Laid Bare
by NickyStokes
Summary: Gil, tired of Sara's evasive answers decides to confront her and bring her home, he decision has less than enthusiastic results and he decides to leave his old life behind...including the lab...Sara changes her mind...guess you'll just have to read it...
1. Chapter 1

She wouldn't look at him and he realized quickly she was probably, no, she was definitely angry that he'd simply chosen to show up after having asked him numerous times just to give her time. He stood before her, hands opening and closing in his normal nervous pattern, something she noticed he did often when dealing with herself.

"What do you want from me Grissom?" she was back to calling him by his last name, not even the decency of calling him Gil and he felt his heart drop just that much more.

"I want to know when you're coming home!" Not a question, a simple statement that said so much. Gil Grissom was not one to beg. "I want to know IF you're coming home!" This time he was going completely against the grain "If you want me to beg Sara, I'm begging...please, just tell me if and when you're coming home...all I'm asking for is some honesty here" tears filled his eyes as he stood there, in a position that Gil Grissom never in all his years imagined himself to be.

"And I told you I didn't know when, I told you I needed time..." she was about to say more as his hands reached up and unzipped his jacket which slowly fell to the floor.

"What are you doing?" she stared at him unable to read his eyes.

"I want you to look at me Sara!" He spoke softly, no inflection in his voice what so ever.

"I am looking at you, I have been looking at you for all these years, you just apparently never noticed!" her voice took on a hard edge as she wondered where this was going. The next thing she knew, he was unbuttoning the blue shirt he had on, one of her favorites if memory served her correctly. "Gil don't do this..!" she watched as he slowly worked the buttons, his fingers trembling as he finally finished and slipped out of the silky material. He slowly slipped the undershirt over his head and dropped that in the growing pile of clothing at his feet.

"No, I want you to not only look at me Sara...I want you to see me!" he worked at the belt around his waist and that along with his pants were quickly discarded as well leaving him standing there in his boxers. As his fingers reached for the waistband, he heard her take a deep breath as if she were preparing to say something. "I know you've looked at me Sara, but this time, I want you to really see..." he stripped down to nothing but the skin that he was no longer comfortable in.

"Stop this Gil, stop it right now!" she jumped up from the sofa where she'd been sitting. "I don't know what exactly you're trying to do here but stop it already, I told you I needed time, I thought you understood!" she paced but wouldn't make eye contact with him. "What the hell possessed you to drive all the way to San Francisco anyway?" she was shouting now and Gil flinched with each word.

"It's all I have left Sara,this is all I have left to offer you, it's all I have left of me... I once told you...my greatest fear was loving and losing you.." the tears welled in his cerulean orbs. "You told me that would never happen...and...I believed you. I told you, my deepest, darkest secret was that you'd love me, leave me and it would destroy me..." she stopped and looked into his eyes, the glint in her brown eyes flashed something that broke him even more.

"You're fine Grissom...you'll survive, you're a survivor!" she tossed words she'd heard after her rescue never stopping to realize, they were words he had NEVER used. He'd always told her they'd get through it...together, that they'd face any demons...together! Not once did he even think of telling her she was a survivor or that she'd be fine, fine was a word he'd heard for years from her own mouth whenever she wanted to avoid talking about something bothering her, it had become her fall back, "I'm fine!" was something that told everyone that knew Sara she was anything but.

He continued to stand there, arms at his side, palms up, he never made a move with the exception of tracking her movement around the room. She paced, like a caged tigress looking for an out. He had come, hoping to finally get an answer, to put pieces of his own life back together and instead, he stood, laid bared to her eyes and she paced around him as if she was trapped. "I'm nothing without you.." the merest whisper passed his lips "I just wanted you to see, you succeeded Sara, you alone did what no one else was ever able to do..."

She stood there, mouth agape as she watched probably the strongest man she knew crumble before her.

"You broke down my walls, ones that I spent years carefully constructing brick by brick. You chipped away until I let you inside...and now, just like I feared, I'm nothing!" he slowly reached down, picked up his shorts and slid them back followed by his pants, belt and the rest of the clothes, in the exact opposite order in which he had stripped himself bare. "My greatest fear was to be known" he remembered Heather had told him that and he's winced then like he did now as he stated the simplest fact. "I let you know me...and now, I have nothing...Thank you Sara, for letting me love you while I could.." he slipped into his jacket, zipped it to the collar and walked toward the door. "I won't bother you again, I see now that I'm not what you want..." she made a move as if to say something but his raised hand stopped her. "I hope you find what...or...who you're looking for, I wish you happiness and peace..." the tears started before he could contain them and he simply opened the door with one last look then slipped away.

Sara stood there, hands over her mouth conflicted as to what she should do. She walked to the window and watched him slowly make his way to his rental car. Today, she couldn't tell if it was her imagination but he looked older, worn and now, because of her, he looked broken and the sob that escaped threatened to choke her. "Oh God...what have I done?" she collapsed in a heap on the floor sobbing uncontrollably.

Catherine hadn't been at all surprised that Gil decided to take a leave of absence and go after Sara but she was ill prepared to find out, 10 days later she was now going to be in charge of the second most successful lab in the country.

"What the hell are you talking about Conrad?" she sat straighter in the chair before the Lab Director's desk. "I don't want Grissom's job, he took a short leave to go after Sara that's..." but the paper he slid across the shiny wooden desk stopped any further conversation.

"Did you honestly think I'd punish him for going after her Catherine?" he seemed genuinely stunned. "I mean, I have heard rumors that I've been a heartless bastard but even that would have been low for me." he sat back studying the blond before him.

"When did he do this?" she picked up the letter:

_It is with great reluctance that I find myself writing this letter to you Conrad, I have not informed my team of my decision and apologize first and foremost for putting this on your shoulders but I have found I am unable to return to my job as Supervisor of Grave. Please inform Catherine of my decision to give up my position with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I know our relationship has been strained over the years but it is with sadness that I am including my formal resignation from the job. Please tell my team it was an honor and a privilege to work with each and every one of them. I'm proud of the job they've done, the job they continue to do everyday and I apologize for taking the cowards way out. Please tell Warrick Brown that I kept my word...he'll understand. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with such a fine organization. _

_Sincerely, _

_Gil Grissom _

"Maybe he just needed a break?" Catherine knew that over the past few months, actually...since the day Sara left, Gil had been on a downward spiral and nothing she or the rest of the team, including Jim Brass had done was enough to bring the old Grissom back. "Maybe he just doesn't want to be the supervisor?" she asked with a hopeful air.

"I sent Brass over to his place to try to talk some sense into him"

"He went to San Francisco on Monday to see Sara..." she wanted him so not to say what she knew was coming...

"Apparently, he came back, cleared out his place and left...Brass is trying to track him down as we speak, I don't think he's in any condition ... emotionally to make any decisions right now" Conrad laid all his cards on the table "I'm not putting this through because of it..." he held up the letter "But Catherine, you need to find him, find out what the hell happened and get him back here, I can only help out as long as this stays between us.."

"Conrad, you have to let me tell the rest of the team, only the immediate team...they might be able to help get him back!" Ecklie sat, hands crossed as he contemplated her request.

"Only as far as Sanders and Archie, if this gets out, I'm afraid I won't be able to save his job Willows" he nodded and Catherine knew she was being dismissed. "As far as you know, Grissom is still on a leave of absence, I don't care if you tell the rest of the lab he's off teaching somewhere in outer Mongolia just let me know what you decide."

Catherine stood up and straightened her sweater. "I don't know why you're doing this Conrad but thank you.." she smiled and left the office leaving Conrad to ponder that very question.

Brass was on to his fourteenth phone call, he didn't know where his friend had disappeared and he'd put out an APB on his car. He'd called in favors in just about every county between Henderson and San Francisco. Finally he decided to use the one phone number he'd hesitated to call. She answered on the second ring.

"Sidle!" she sounded tired and Brass wondered at the wiseness of contacting her.

"Cookie, it's Brass..." he heard something in her breathing, a hitch, something there.

"Hey, Jim...how are you?" she managed to regroup rather quickly.

"I've been better...you?" She didn't answer immediately and he thought again that this might not have been the best idea he'd had so far.

"Been better myself, what can I do for you?" Somehow she knew before he even stated the reason for his call.

"Have you seen Gil Sara?" he heard the sound again, an intake of breath, a sob...

"He was here on Monday, have you checked the lab?" she figured that once he walked away, Gil would return to the only safe place he knew.

"Yeah...about that" Brass tapped his pen nervously, "I ... well, Gil left the lab Cookie..." He doodled a smiley face on his desk top calendar and the with the stroke of a pen, crossed the smile off the little face staring up at him.

"He left...?" she sounded genuinely puzzled.

"Yeah, Catherine told me he took a leave of absence to go out to California and see you..." he drew a hangman's noose around the stick neck of the smiley face. "So he was there?" Brass was treading lightly.

"Yeah...he came... here...but...but he left..."

"Alone I guess!" Brass swallowed hard knowing how difficult it must have been for Gil to swallow his pride, pack up his things and drive all the way out to try to get back the love of his life, only to find out from said 'love' that he'd obviously failed.

"I wasn't ready ... he showed up..." she started to cry at the thought of Gil standing naked before her, broken... "He ... I... we, Oh God Brass, I'm so sorry, I let him walk away... thinking that I didn't love him!" she bawled into the handset.

"Do you Sara? Do you love him?" Brass seemed to be the only other person with balls enough to lay his cards on the table.

"I do...I'm just so confused, I thought I was coming here to bury ghosts from my past, I asked him for the time to do that, I just never expected him to show up at my door..."

"What exactly happened Sara?" Brass finished the stick figure on the paper, complete with a mini gallows from which the smiley face now hung., eyes crossed off like those of a dead man.

"He came here...he said he wanted me to see him..." she whispered in between heaving sobs. "He stripped bare, right here in my living room ...and told me..." she cried harder..

"What did he say Sara?"

"He said I'd succeeded...in...Brass, I've destroyed the only man I've ever loved!" she could barely catch her breath between the sobs that wracked her body. "He said he was nothing without me, that his greatest fear..."

"Was being known!" Brass added, remembering how Heather had once stated that Grissom was afraid because she 'knew him' it was a conversation he'd had with her that until now, no one else knew about. "You know Sara, he let you in even though he knew this was what could come to pass." he tried to be gentle but this was his best friend they were discussing.

"I know Jim, I know...God I never meant to..."

"He told me you once promised him that you'd never hurt him" he sat back in the chair "I know he hurt you plenty in the past Sara but the last two years, he did everything he could to make it up to you" she was shocked that Brass knew how long they'd been together. "He was the happiest I ever remember seeing him, except for the time he returned from San Francisco and a certain Forensic Academy Conference." the smile in Jim's voice was evident. "Did he say anything else before he left Sara? Anything that might give us a hint of where he'd go?"

"He really left Jim?"

"He faxed in his letter of resignation, Conrad's holding off on it hoping he'll change his mind so I went to your house to see if I could talk some sense into him, the place is empty."

"Empty? Empty as in...?" she bit her lip nervously.

"Nothing Sara, not a lamp, not a stitch of furniture, empty..." he remembered the sadness he felt knowing that Gil would have had the place completely packed up and if his gut instinct was right, probably put everything in storage.

"Well at least he took Hank with him..." she muttered. "He did take Hank right?" she heard Jim take a breath.

"Ah...no, he gave him to the neighbor lady, told her if she decided she couldn't keep him, he'd understand and left a letter for Greg...asking if he would consider giving him a home until you decided if you wanted him or not..." Jim drew a tie on the dead smiley face. "That's the last contact anyone has had from him, I have friends in the department looking for him but so far, nothing, none of the Universities have heard from him..it's like he dropped off the planet!" he scratched out his doodles and began drawing blocks.

"He loved that dog Jim..." she sobbed, sitting on the bed and holding herself tightly.

"He loved you too Cookie, look where that got him!" Jim couldn't suppress the lilt of anger that tinged his words. "Guess wherever he is, he needed to be alone..."

"Jim...please, do whatever you have to but ffffind him ffffor mmmmme?" she stuttered. "I know Jim, I don't deserve your help but please...find him for me." The phone disconnected and Sara wasn't sure what Jim's decision would be, if he found Gil would he bother to tell her or would the team, realizing that Gil had fallen apart after her departure, close ranks and keep her out. She decided to take a chance and dialed Catherine's number.. The phone rang four or five times before it went to voice mail, feeling stupid she decided against leaving a message and proceeded to try Nick or Warrick's phone as well, pretty much getting the same thing. She thought it odd that they were not answering their phones at the same time and as a last ditch effort she contacted Greg.

"Hey Sara!" He at least sounded enthusiastic "How's it going?" Greg had been angry at Grissom since the day he'd informed the team of her departure. He had thoroughly convinced himself that if Gil had gotten off his ass and gone after her, she'd be once again working side by side with her team and everything would be okay. Sara of course hadn't known the difficult time that Greg had been giving Grissom as of late, snide comments, dirty looks and a definite 'kiss my ass' attitude that at any other time would have gotten him either written up or reprimanded. Gil has simply taken it in stride figuring that at some point and time, he and Greg would have to talk.

"Greg, has anyone seen or heard from Gil?" she cut right to the chase.

"You're kidding right?" he sounded incredulous. "No Sara, apparently Mr. Reliable did a cut and run leaving the whole lab up for grabs!" the venom that poured from his mouth took Sara by surprise. "Not surprising, he couldn't manage to hang on to the best thing in his life and now he dumps on us...man did I have him figured wrong...I'm telling you..."

"Stop Greg, stop it right now!" she hissed into the line making him hold it away from his ear..

"Sara for God sake, you can't tell me after what he did to make you leave..."

"He didn't do anything Greg, I left on my own, he didn't even know I was leaving!" she shouted.

"What?" Greg sounded shocked, genuinely surprised by this admission. "He didn't drive you away?"

"No...after I talked to you in the locker room that day, and that whole mess with Hannah...I couldn't do it anymore Greg, I couldn't face death day in and day out..." she sobbed. "I kissed him in the lab...in front of David..." she wiped away the tears streaming from her eyes. "I never knew...I walked away Greg, from you guys...from my job, from the only man I've ever loved...I walked away" she broke and all Greg could do was to sit and listen to his best friend cry.

"Sara...Gil left the lab...he emailed Ecklie his resignation...no one has heard from him since." he felt like an ass.

"He came here Greg...to see if I was coming home, he begged me, Grissom...begged me and I let him walk away thinking I didn't love him." the words poured forth and Greg's heart broke.

"Sara...do you love him?" he had to know, he loved her himself and wanted the answer that had eluded him all the years he'd known her. "Do you really truly love him?" he heard her sob again.

"I do love him Greg, with all my heart...I just didn't think I was ready to come home...I thought...I came here to bury my past..." she wondered how much of her past they might be aware of. "I didn't have the greatest childhood Greg, I came home..."

"Grissom said you were in San Francisco visiting your Mom, I thought he was full of shit.." he still did not having any other info to go on.

"I did, I am...there's so much about me you don't know...only Griss knew...but he was telling you the truth, my Mom got out of prison, I hadn't seen her since..." she paused and then dove right in figuring she needed a friend now... "My Mother killed my father protecting me...I haven't seen her since I was a kid and when she got paroled...well, I came to see her, mend some fences, bury some ghosts..." she was sobbing again just less frequently.

Greg was stunned, Sara's Mother had killed her Father, protecting her from what? Apparently her Father from the sounds of it, he wasn't going to pry...but he sure and hell was going to be a better friend to her. "Did you manage to accomplish any of that?" he sounded genuinely concerned for her.

"Some, I met my Mother, we're finally getting along...I realize now that instead of seeing her as a weak person that let my Father beat her, that she took them so he wouldn't touch me...until...well, that's another story for another time Greg" she wiped her nose and straightened up. "Now I need to find Gil, I need to...I need Grissom!" she wailed into the phone, finally at wits end.

"I know Brass has an APB out on him, from here to California but I haven't heard anything. Sara ... Conrad is keeping his resignation under wraps for now, he said he didn't think that Grissom is emotionally stable enough to make such a decision." he repeated what Catherine had told the team when she'd informed them of their supervisor's exit.

"He's probably not too far off Greg and I didn't help matters" she sighed "If you hear anything would you call me?' she gave him the number and the address where she was staying. He assured her he would, wished her well and told her in no uncertain terms that he hoped she would come home soon then they hung up. Sara immediately started to pack up her things. She was going home or, she hoped she was because she didn't know if the condo was still theirs, if her keys would fit in the door and she needed to make several calls to find out where all their furniture had been sent. It took awhile but she finally located the storage facility and explained that she had been out of town, her husband had been called away and he had put the furniture in storage thinking that she might now be able to move back in time...luckily the woman on the phone bought it along with the story that she'd missed him and he probably had the only keys...

The next phone call was to her Mother telling her it was time for her to return home and straighten her life out there and in time, she'd be back. Laura Sidle, grateful for the time she had with her daughter wished her well and told her that in the future, she'd like the opportunity to meet the man that had captured Sara's heart. She contacted the apartment manager, handed over her keys and took what little possessions she had gathered, loaded them up in her car and was on the road a day later.

"Las Vegas, here I come" she smiled sadly hoping that when she got there, she'd be able to undo the mess she'd made of the life she'd left behind.

--She pulled into her old spot in the LVPD/CSI parking lot then thought better of it being only a visitor now, she quickly swapped places, locked her car and headed into the building. The first person she saw was Judy behind the reception desk who waved frantically at her with the biggest smile she'd ever seen.

"Miss Sidle, how are you?" she quickly put down the phone and leaned over the counter "God it's good to see you, Dr. Grissom's not here, I guess he took a leave of absence or something...gosh he's gonna be so mad he missed you...unless you're here for him...which isn't good because of course" her hands flew about her head like she was about to take off. "like I said he's not here but I could try to page him for you...you're here, are you here to stay?" Sara was having a hell of a time keeping up with the conversation so she simply stood there smiling at the young woman.

"I know he's not here Judy, I came to talk to the rest of the team and see if Conrad Ecklie was available.." she waited thinking that perhaps Judy would hand her a visitor sticker but she simply picked up the phone.

"Mr. Ecklie, you have a visitor, yes, Miss Sidle...yes Sara she's here if ... okay I'll send her in, thank you Sir!" she hung up and smiled then waved Sara in the direction of the Director's office. Conrad was standing in the hallway when she walked down the corridor and the smile on his face made it impossible for her to read him.

"Sara" he extended his hand to her. "Good to see you, you're looking rested..." he gently guided her into his office, closed the door and motioned for her to take a seat. "I'm assuming that you heard about Gil?" she nodded looking quite guilty.

"I'm afraid I might have had a hand in that Conrad" she placed her purse beside the chair and leaned back not quite knowing where to begin.

"I take it he found you in California?" She nodded. "Didn't go well?" She shook her head, she wasn't sure how much she wanted him delving into their personal lives but then remembered that Greg said Conrad was actually holding off on putting Grissom's resignation through.

"He wanted answers to if and when I might be coming home" she pulled a tissue from her purse afraid of the water works that were threatening again.

"And you weren't ready to come back?" he reclined slightly as the leather of his chair squeaked in annoyance.

"I guess him just showing up, out of the blue took me by surprise...I didn't give him an answer and..."

"He walked away totally confused!" Conrad finished for her understanding the situation a lot more than she could ever believe. "You know Miss Sidle" he smile... "You left me short handed when you walked away!" his tone was not accusatory in the least and Sara had to wonder what he was getting at. "And now, it would seem that I'm even shorter handed then before" he templed his fingers under his chin. "So, I have to ask you, what do you think you can personally do about this little dilemma?" he was genuinely smiling now.

"Well...I seriously doubt that anyone would be to happy about me just waltzing in and out of here on a whim" she decided to play along wondering if she was ready to return to a job that had so dearly cost her so much.

"Well anyone but me" he laughed. "I understand the job getting to you Sara honestly I do and I knew when Gil took his leave last year that it was getting to him as well, we both know" he tipped his hands "both of you are cut from the same cloth."

"What shift would you need me for?" she was praying that he would not request her to come back to Days or Swing.

"Well, since I'm shortest on Grave and since you have such a working knowledge of how Gil likes things handled, I guess I would have to insist" he grinned "that you take a position on Grave" she looked up stunned that he seemed to read her mind. "But I want you to start off slow, no solo cases just for the time being..."

"Unless the team is extremely stretched." she wasn't asking, it was only fair that she be allowed to pull her fair share.

"Exactly, but you'll have to answer to Catherine, I know you and she have had your difference but..." as if on cue, Catherine appeared outside of Ecklie's office and he motioned her in.

"Sara!" Catherine's open armed welcome told Conrad all he needed to know. "Please tell me you're back to stay?" She closed the door behind her and looked from Sara to Ecklie.

"She is, she'll be immediately assigned to Grave under your command if that's okay with you Catherine?" the redhead smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

"No solos unless we're tapped out." They both agreed. "Pending Gil's return and his decision if he wants to remain as Supervisor of Grave Catherine you'll remain Shift supervisor for the interim. Catherine sat down and took Sara's hand.

"Welcome back...where are you staying?" Conrad looked up at Catherine.

"I managed to finagle my way around the storage company, I'll need to get some movers to get our furniture back in if Gil hasn't put the house up for sale or anything." Conrad hadn't known about this information. "I don't know if he changed the locks, if he hasn't my keys might still work I'll need to get some of my stuff tucked away before I start tonight..." she knew it was going to be a mad dash to get situated again.

"Well, it's been quiet so far, Conrad how would you feel about us helping her out for awhile, we'll stay on standby, there's nothing in the lab pending right now that Hodges can't manage himself but we might be able to get Sara settled faster then her having to wait for movers. I know I'm asking a huge favor with us being on the clock..." He held up his hand.

"Welcome back Sara" he waved them out of his office after actually giving her a hug that threw her for a loop. "I just hope I can say the same to Gil shortly" he felt her tense up and stepped away from her. "We'll find him Sara, we have the resources to do it...we'll find him."


	2. Chapter 2

Alan Brooks never thought he'd ever lay eyes on Gil Grissom again and to tell the truth, Gil would have sworn the same thing, he didn't know what it was that brought him back to Jackpot but here he was and the first person he runs into was the same sheriff who he'd reluctantly made acquaintances with previously.

"Well as I live and breath, what brings you back to our parts? Another dead body?" he smirked knowing that if there had been one, he'd have been the first to know.

"Just passing through, thought I'd see how life was in a small town for a change." Gil grinned back, the smile somehow not reaching his eyes.

"I'm heading over to the diner if you'd like a cup of coffee or something?" he watched as Grissom thought about it and then nodded in agreement, pulled his car over to the curb and got out.

"Make sure you lock it up, don't want your kit being stolen again!" Alan winked then walked in step with the taller man. "Nice car by the way, not driving the Denali anymore?" Gil looked up then shook his head.

"I'm not a CSI anymore, that's my personal car." the tone of his voice kept Brooks from asking anything further along those lines and Gil was grateful that the younger man took the hint.

"So, where you heading?" Gil shrugged at that question since he couldn't honestly answer himself in that regards.

"Not exactly sure, might head up to Montana for awhile, I hear it's awful nice up there this time of year. Maybe get in some fishing while I'm there." they took the two steps up to the diner and entered the semi crowded room. Gloria, the waitress behind the counter nodded to Brooks then smiled when she recognized Gil again.

"Hey sugar, what brings you back to town?" she pulled out two menus then handed them to Brooks and motioned for an empty booth further down. "I'll be right down, either of you want coffee?" Gil nodded, grateful to be getting his hands around a cup of coffee, his head had felt fuzzy since he left California and when he realized where he was headed, knew that at least for a few days, he could get lost in the familiar small town.

"Yes please, regular and black" he yawned and Alan turned toward him.

"You planning on staying for a bit?" they sat down in the booth and for a moment, Grissom thought back to the team, all six of them crowding into one or two booths at the diner down the street from the Lab. The vinyl seats were the same putrid pink color and the wallpaper could have been ordered from the same book., everything about it felt like home with the exception of the company. Then he realized, Vegas wasn't his home anymore...where exactly it was now would be decided if and when he figured out where he wanted to be. Somehow, he never thought of himself living a nomadic existence at his age but as he was quickly realizing, things changed in the blink of an eye. "Reason I'm asking, if you need a place, Leland's house is empty, after everything that went down, he moved on" he seemed genuinely saddened by this but understood that some might never understand his brother's preferences and it was easier now on both of them.

"I am sorry the investigation turned out the way it did" Gil was going to say more but Alan waved his hand.

"Water under the bridge, no one can blame you for doing your job...I know it wasn't how we acted when you were doing it but" he sipped at his coffee "truth be told, I'm glad it wasn't Leland" he put the cup down and motioned for Gloria to come over. "Mind if we order some breakfast?" she smiled, pulled the pen from behind her ear and pulled a pad from her apron.

"Go right ahead!" she waited. Gil smiled at her and realized he was actually hungry. In fact, he couldn't remember when he'd eaten last.

"Two eggs, over easy, side of bacon and toast well buttered!" Alan chuckled when he saw Gloria snicker.

"I was talking to Mr. Grissom...you've been ordering the same damned thing for 10 years Brooks, when you gonna live a little and try something new?" she teased knowing full well that would never happen.

"I'd like a Denver omelet, hash browns and toast lightly buttered please." he took the last sip of his coffee and smiled when it was just as quickly refilled. "Thanks" he winked at Gloria and noticed a slight blush come on.

"Don't mention it Mr. Grissom..." she chuckled.

"Grissom...just Grissom..." he answered not used to formality.

"Okay, just Grissom" she teased as she refilled Alan's cup and then headed to place her order with the cook. "It'll be up in a few minutes guys." she leaned against the counter and started talking the to the group of men sitting eating breakfast, drinking coffee or reading the morning papers.

"So you looking to do some fishing?" Alan put down his cup and studied Gil, he looked tired, older and there was something off with the man.

"Yeah, I like to fish." Gil realized that since he'd been working in Vegas, he hadn't picked up a fishing pole but when he packed up the house, he'd kept his rod out and the new reel that he'd splurged on once then never got to use. "Any good placed up here?" he sipped at his coffee again then moved the cup aside as Gloria brought their plates.

"Thanks Gloria" Gil looked up then caught the wonderful scent of the hot food set before him. He picked up the salt and pepper, seasoned his food and then went about the business of enjoying the fare on his generously filled plate.

"As a matter of fact, Leland's property sits smack dab beside some of the best fishing this part of Nevada, should be plentiful this time of year if you're up to it?" he saw Gil stop chewing then nod slowly.

"I'd like that..thanks" Gil dug into his food and realized that for now, he didn't have to worry about a destination but he couldn't help feeling lost for those he left behind. They finished their breakfast and Alan lead the way up to Leland's old place. Gil had offered to pay rent but Brooks refused, something told him that having Grissom around for awhile would at least give him an excuse to get in some fishing of his own. The place had been recently cleaned and smelled mildly of disinfectant but Gil knew it would dissipate with the doors and windows open.

"Phone works, don't know why I kept it on but it is so if you need to make any calls, gas and electricity as well" he moved around the "Sheets and towels in the linen cabinet, bathroom is this way, across from that is one of two bedrooms. The stove is wood burning, it does get chilly up here at night but I think Leland stocked the wood before he left, if not, won't be too hard to get some cut for ya..." Grissom wondered at the hospitable man who guided him from room to room. There's a boat at the dock, should be fueled up as well, you're welcome to use it, and to anything you find in the cupboards as well." and with that, he shook hands and left the cabin leaving Gil with the keys to the place. "I'll call on you later, see if you want to join me for lunch or dinner?" Gil waved then unloaded his bags from the car.

It felt good to move around and it didn't take him long to settle in. He put his book of Shakespeare beside the bed, much like it always was at home, hung his clothes in the closet and wondered aloud just how long he planned on staying here. After getting the sheets changed and his stuff stowed away, he decided to take a walk around and get a lay of the land. Alan wasn't kidding, the lake was beautiful and for a moment, Gil wondered what it would be like to walk along the shore with his arm around Sara, just as quickly he had to shake the thought from his mind as the pain he felt in his chest threatened to overtake him again.

Meanwhile:

Sara was ever so grateful that the guys had moved her stuff instead of making her wait for some strange movers to paw through her belongings. It had taken the better part of the day, and thanks to a lull in the crime of Las Vegas, it had been quiet enough that no one had been called to a scene. She'd been emptying the last of the packing boxes into the trash out back when Sara's older neighbor came out and she heard the distinct sound of barking and howling as Hank threw himself up against the wooden privacy fence.

"I knew it" Dorthea smiled "I knew you had to be back Sara, Hank here's been going crazy all afternoon, I thought maybe he heard something out back, a deer or something but he wouldn't settle and ... well, to tell the truth, he's been a bit sad since Mr. Grissom dropped him off but he's been good company and such, just a bit more of a handful then I thought...ya know having him here day and night..." she watched as Sara reacquainted herself with her dog. "Would you be wanting him back?" she sounded hopeful and Sara only needed a minute before she nodded.

"I'm sorry, I've been away and I've missed him so much but I know Gil gave him to you...so if..."

"Oh Heavens child, the man wasn't thinking straight when he left here, anyone could see it, that's why I kept Hank, I knew you'd be back...where is Mr. Grissom anyway?" she'd been watching through pulled curtains the goings on next door as the young men had worked like busy ants to unload the trucks of belongings and move then back into the house.

"It's just me for now Dorthea...I don't...I haven't a clue where Gil is off to.." she suddenly looked lost again.

"Well the boy was sure beside himself when he first left, said he was off to California to bring you home, said it was time to have you back with him, where you belonged is what he said." she rambled on and on clueless to the fact that everything she said was breaking Sara's heart more and more. "Yup, comes by asking me to watch Hank, last thing he said was he was going to bring Hank's Mommy home...then he just about skipped to the car, waved goodbye and was off." she pondered a moment between breaths. "Funny thing, he came home looking so sad, next thing I know movers came around, he asked me to keep Hank and he was gone.." she looked at Sara and realized a sadness that permeated the air around them. "He didn't find you?" she watched as Sara looked up at her.

"He did, only..." she couldn't continue and Dorthea wrapped her sturdy arms around her.

"No need to explain child, no need to explain..." she walked Sara toward her door holding Hank's leash as they entered the house. Catherine was surprised by the over excited Boxer but quickly took the leash and welcomed him home.

"Hey Hank how are you boy?" she immediately walked into the kitchen to look for a temporary water dish. "You're going to need to pick up food and bones for him Sara" she noticed Nick coming in and immediately he dropped to his knees and started to wrestle with the good natured dog.

Catherine had been kind enough to change the linens on the bed now that the bedroom had been pretty much put back the way Sara had told her things were supposed to be. "You really have put your own spin on this place haven't you? She smiled as Sara looked around then sat on the bed running her hands up and down the beautiful butterfly comforter that Grissom had specifically made for their bedroom.

"Yeah, well his old place was a spartan reminder of his bachelor days and to tell you the truth, there was more warmth on the walls of some of the prison cells then the stark off white he had everything painted." she chuckled at the memory of the first argument they shared upon her moving in with him.

"These walls do not need color!" he stood against the stainless steel counter and placed his hands on his hips. "There is nothing wrong with the color!" he was shouting and Sara spun on her heels, hand holding out the color wheel she'd picked out at the Sherwin Williams paint store.

"It's not even a color on the color wheel Gilbert!" she fanned the five hundred color charts out to emphasize her point. "It's prison white for God sake!" she shouted just as loudly as he did. He wasn't going to listen and turned to reach for a cold drink from the refrigerator. "Don't you dare turn your back on me when I'm talking Gil, you said we could do this and we'd do it together, those were your words exactly and you know it!" she moved around him stepping between himself and the fridge.

"Sara, if you want to paint then by all means, pick a color and we'll go and get it, I'll even help you paint but I'm no good with colors, co-ordinating is not my thing and I'm perfectly fine with the way my house..." he didn't get a chance to finish before the first tear started.

"Your house...your house!" she dropped the color palette on the counter, walked into the small living room, picked up her purse and jacket and walked to the door.

"Sara..." he threw his hands in the air slightly exasperated "Where are you going?" he looked at his watch about to remind her of the time but she turned, tears streaming down her face.

"I'm going home!" she turned the knob "While I still have a home!" and with that, she slipped out the door making sure to slam it for effect.

"Sara!" he shouted after her but by the time he'd gotten to the front door, she was already in her car and pulling out of the parking lot. "Dammit!" he bit back the other expletives that were on the tip of his tongue, walked back in his door and slammed it shut himself. "For God sake, it's paint...it's not rocket..." he thought of two days before that, they'd been out for a drive when Sara mentioned the possibility of changing some of his furniture.

"What's wrong with my furniture?" he honestly didn't know having no clue that form and function don't always equal comfort when it comes to leather sofa's and stiffly stuffed chairs.

"For one, the love seat needs to go!" he was glad he was at a stop light because the look he gave her was one of utter surprise.

"Why? It has been with me since I was in college!" he was incredulous.

"Exactly, it needs a proper burial or at least, donate the damned thing to a university where some crazy kids will think they have an antique to decorate around!" she wasn't smiling when she said it.

"Sara..." but she shook her head.

"We need something more practical, something much more comfortable, we can't even lay on it together!" she tried to stress that knowing he would offer up some lame excuse that he fit on it just fine which was of course a lie. "We have room for a sectional, something in a neutral tone and something that would allow us to stretch out from time to time." she was dead serious but he wasn't about to let his sofa go without the proper fight.

"What's wrong, you never seemed to mind before that it requires us to sit close together, why all of a sudden do you want to change everything?" he realized that the last part of the sentence was chancing him a stay in hot water.

"I don't want to change everything Grissom" she uses his last name either at work or when she was pissed, like she was right now. "I want to make it more of a home instead of the resident bachelor pad." he looked at her like she'd lost her mind but agreed to go shopping while they were out with every intention of not liking anything he saw. The same could not be said for Sara. She immediately fell in love with a black leather lounge chair complete with matching ottoman, a brown leather sofa that definitely looked inviting and the sumptuous leather was certainly soft, squishy and just what she was looking for. Gil on the other hand wouldn't not agree that it would fit them both to a t. Finally she had enough of the one word, not committal answers and walked out of the store without purchasing anything.

Gil looked at the color wheel and saw three different colors marked off, two shades of brown where chose for the living room and one for an accent wall. Then then she'd marked another for their bedroom which brought him back to another conversation they'd had about getting a bed they both liked instead of the one he'd had since he moved to Vegas.

"It's solid wood, full size and you never had any complaints before!" he sat on the edge as she perused the room pointing to everything that she said no longer worked in there.

"I wasn't living with it on a daily basis, the mattress is lumpy, the box spring creeks whenever you turn over. The dresser has definitely seen better days and there aren't enough drawers for both of our things."

They'd argued about several things that day, mostly the fact that he wanted her in his life, or at the very least, had claimed to, wanted her to move in with him and then spent most of his energy keeping her from making any substantial changes to the place to make her feel more welcome. Finally she had enough and left for her apartment, grateful that for the time being, she had decided to hang on to it.

Walking inside, she was amazed at how much of her stuff still remained and she started to question if it was he who had been resisting her changing things or if it was herself because for someone that seemed so anxious to move forward with their lives as a couple, taking in a quick inventory, she realized she had left many of her important mementos right here in her old home.

Grissom tried several times over the course of the next few days to call her but each time, his attempts went directly to her voice mail, his emails went not only unanswered but unread and he started to panic. Catherine came in with a memo from Ecklie stating that Sara had asked for a two week leave of absence and his heart started beating erratically.

"What did she state as her reason?" he barely looked up from his computer screen as yet again, he found himself checking whether or not she'd responded which she had not.

"She said it was personal but didn't go into detail, Conrad said that she's got plenty of time on the books and didn't think there was any reason to deny her request, it's effective immediately. Gil looked up at his longtime friend.

"What's going on Gil?" she took a seat across from him and casually laid the memo on her lap.

"Um...noth...nothing Cathrine" he shifted in his chair and pulled his glasses off then nervously chewed at the ear piece.

"Are you and Sara fighting again?" She leaned forward so her voice was nearly a whisper. "Gil what did you do this time?" she waited patiently for his answer.

"Why does everyone always assume it's me that did something?" he had an air of sadness around him.

"Because Grissom, it usually is you that did or didn't do whatever so spill!" she sat back crossing her legs, in effect telling him that she was prepared to sit there as long as necessary.

"She wants to change everything?" he seemed genuinely perplexed by the situation.

"With your relationship?" Cath knew they'd been getting along so much better only she wasn't aware they'd taken the next step and actually moved in together.

"I asked her to move into my place" he sat back, "Then she comes home with this color chart and wants to start painting." Cath's smile had him wondering but he continued his story. "So she ask me what I think...what the hell do I know about painting, I'm perfectly content with the colors my home is..!" Catherine's raised finger let him know she was about to say something enlightening.

"First off Grissom...What color? Your frigg'n home is spartan white, hospital white...prison cell drab!" she would have continued but he shot her a look and she softened her tone. "And you just referred to it as "My place" yet you want her to feel comfortable there?" He nodded.

"Of course I do!" again the look of utter confusion crowed his features.

"How can she if you don't let her change things a little, it has to be a place you're both equal in..." she got a very strange look on her face. "How attached are you to that place?" Gil shot her a glance that said she'd apparently lost him in this part of the conversation.

"It's my home, I've been there since I moved to Vegas.." it worked for him but upon serious contemplation, he realized quickly where Cath was going with her questions. "I'm not that attached to it...I mean, are you suggesting that I move?" he sat upright in his mesh backed chair.

"I'm suggesting that perhaps you and Sara need to find a place that you both love, a place that makes you equals, new grounds for a new relationship!" the answer seemed so simple to her yet to Grissom it sent a twinge of panic to his being.

"But what if it doesn't last Cath, then I gave up my townhouse and I'm stuck with something I don't need!" she shook her head sadly.

"You don't go into this thinking about what ifs Grissom, especially not the what if it fails, what if we're making a mistake, what if...you go into thinking...We're starting a new life, new place. We're together making this a home instead of just a place to lay our heads...but the bottom line is you think "We're doing this TOGETHER!" she sat back again letting it all sink in.

"I have to go Cath" he suddenly jumped up, grabbed his jacket and while slipping it on, Cath held up his car keys. "Can you cover for me tonight, I mean...unless something big comes up...?" he snatched the keys from Cath as she nodded, leaned down and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Catherine, thanks for everything" and with that he rushed out the door leaving even his briefcase behind. Catherine laughed as she walked around his desk to close down his computer knowing full well that being the private man he was, Grissom wouldn't want anyone reading his emails.


	3. Chapter 3

Gil decided to drive into town, check with Alan about any need for a fishing license which Brooks teased him about briefly "You think I'd arrest you because you pulled trout from my brother's pond?" his smile clear told Grissom he was being joked with. "Well rest assured Grissom, the pond is all yours to fish on, the boat...enjoy and you can get some bait from the local store...I might see you up there later." with that he hopped into his truck and drove away.

As Gil was making it across the street, he was a bit surprised to see Marty Cooperman heading his way. He nodded not expecting to get an answer.

"What brings the Great Grissom around a parts again?" he smiled throwing Gil for a loop.

"Just a vacation Marty, gonna get in some fishing for a few days..." he continued on toward the shop hoping to get in and out before the day got much warmer.

"You staying up at Leland's old place?" Gil nodded, not totally surprised that news of his visit would have traveled so quickly. "Great fishing, they like the fat night crawlers the best but I found out the blue gills go for chunks of cheese" he smiled for what had to be the first time since Grissom had met him. "If you're up for some company just let me know, I'm off tomorrow and I've been looking to hit a good fishing hole, everyone knows Leland's has the best." with that he waved and continued on his way to his filling station.

As he head home, funny he thought of this as home for the moment, again his thoughts slipped back to his time with Sara and he found himself thinking about how much his life had changed since his first meeting with her. He'd resisted her for years only to find that the more he thought he was succeeding, the less he actually was but now, where had it all gotten him. His heart was broken, he no longer had a job to return to, his house was an empty shell, it was amazing how quickly a home could become nothing more than a house but it had happened. He was deep in contemplation and almost missed the beautiful German Shepherd that bolted in front of his car but he quickly stomped on the brakes and realized he knew the animal.

Gil pulled the car over and called the dog "Tripper...come here boy!" he squatted down and the dog immediately loped over toward him enjoying a good scratch. "You're not out looking for anymore heads are ya boy?" he teased and the big dog dropped down to encourage the man to give him a few belly rubs. In a lot of ways his mannerisms were like Hanks and Gil immediately thought of the boxer they'd adopted together. No one had wanted him because he drooled, snored and sometimes had a very bad case of flatulence but both Gil and Sara had immediately fell in love with him, they'd adopted him and even though he'd come with the name of Hank, neither saw any reason to change it and the dog had fell right into a place in their little makeshift family. He wondered what Sara would think of him having given Hank away, not that he was happy about the decision but, since his own life was in an uproar, what else could he offer the dog but someone that would love him unconditionally and give him permanency which was something neither Gil or Sara seemed to be able to offer at the moment.

"Hey, Mr. Grissom..." The slightly plump woman bringing up the rear waved enthusiastically at Gil as he rubbed the dog. "Haven't seen you around since that...head incident." she smiled warmly "Apparently Tipper remembers you, seems like you're a natural with animals." she caught her breath. "Just out taking our usual stroll but he's always a good 100 yards ahead of me at any given time." she realized she was rambling and smiled bashfully. "So you back as a follow up on the case..? I thought it was all settled?"

"Oh, I'm not here on official business, I stopped by and Alan mentioned there was some good fishing here, really didn't have a destination in mind" which sounded strange for a man who was used to having everything in his life planned to a t. "I thought I'd take him up on his offer and stay around for a bit, I'm up at Leland's old place."

"Ah, great fishing if you're into it..." she smiled. "You all alone?" she looked at the empty car and realized it was not the same as the vehicle he'd come up with before.

"Yeah, needed to sort out some things...all this peace and quiet" he looked around as he slowly stood up "Give a person a chance to get his head on straight..." he didn't elaborate any further and Sylvia didn't feel a need to ask any more questions.

"Well, I'm sure we'll be seeing you around then, hopefully run into you at the diner or something..." she whistled to the dog then turned away thinking how odd it was such a great looking man being all alone but she kept the thought to herself.

Gil pulled up to the cabin, parked his vehicle and unloaded his bait. Heading into the house, he picked up his cellphone and flipped it open, an old habit that he hadn't managed to get out of. There was a call from both Catherine and Ecklie and for a minute, he considered calling them back. Instead, he scrolled to the messages and deleted both thinking that the only way to move forward was to leave the past in the past. Gathering his baseball hat and his rods, he picked up the new bait bucket and walked toward the direction of the lake.

Sara had everything worked out as far as the sitter taking Hank while she returned to work. She'd apologized to the team about her abrupt departure and tried her best to give them a brief but clear reason she felt she needed to leave the way in which she did.

"If I'd said goodbye to you guys" they sat round the layout table listening patiently. "I never would have made it out the door, the worst was Grissom, I kissed him and walked away with no explanations besides a letter. He deserved more than that, more than a paper with a barely sensible reason for her doing what she'd done and now, when he'd swallowed his pride, came to her and begged her, actually begged her to just be honest, she couldn't even give him that much and look where it got them. She was back doing a job she loved/hated, he was somewhere apparently not willing to be found and the team, they simply absorbed the work and got on with it best they could.

"I'm sorry, I honestly am about all of this, my leaving...Gil leaving, that was my fault to and I can't apologize enough...I don't know if he'll forgive me but I hope in time he'll realize I still love him very much..." she wiped at a tear and Nick stood up and walked over to her.

"We all have things we've done and wished we handled differently." he hugged her. "Grissom will be back, he loves you sweetheart!" he felt her tense. "He knows you love him Sara..." she started to cry and quickly stood up.

"That's just it, he doesn't...he ... he thinks I don't..." she turned toward everyone then toward the door looking for all the world like a trapped animal. "I let him walk away thinking I didn't want...I didn't love him.." she appeared ready to collapse and Nick wrapped his arms around her tighter.

"Then we'll have to find him and make him realize it was a misunderstanding Sara..." Greg offered just as Catherine walked in.

"I tried to call him for you Honey, so did Ecklie, he's not taking any calls." she looked quite saddened by the revelation. "It doesn't mean I won't keep trying but for now..." she rubbed a soothing hand up and down her spine.

Sara straightened up and pulled her shirt down. "Thanks guys, for everything, for understanding, for support...just...for being there for me.." she leaned against Nick and smiled at the group gathered there.

"Hey, did does anyone know if Gil took his Mercedes?" Greg piped up looking quite pleased with himself of asking such a question.

"Yeah, he quit, remember Greg? He couldn't very well take the Denali" Warrick looked at him like he lost his head. "Why? The GPS system was only on his..." but Greg was shaking his head.

"No, listen, when Nicky was kidnapped and Gil was determined to handle the money transfer himself, I stuck a GPS system on his Mercedes cause I didn't know which vehicle he was going to drive...so I kinda took it upon myself..." before he could say more, both Sara and Catherine were rushing toward him to plant a kiss on each of his cheeks.

"God you are something else Greg...thank you" Catherine kissed him then hugged Sara "Let's go see if we can find out where he disappeared to." she led the way to find Archie knowing that Greg would have included him in the programming of the unit.

It didn't take long, Archie punched in a few codes and smiled triumphantly when he realized that apparently, Gil still hadn't realized that his car had a tracking device on it.

"We're in business...it's up and running" he punched in more coordinates on the computer and started laughing. "Apparently our beloved leader has returned to Jackpot!" he pointed to the blip on the computer screen then ran some diagnostics. "He's been there for two days and he's not moving right now..." he jotted down some information and handed it to Sara. "Anything else?" She smiled and looked up at Catherine...

"We'll boys?" she hadn't noticed until now that Nick and Warrick had joined them and as she turned around...Conrad Ecklie stood in the doorway.

"I'm taking it from the smiles on everyone's faces that you might have heard from Gil?" he was hoping but Catherine turned around.

"Close, we found out where he's at...but he hasn't answered my calls either." she knew that Conrad had made several attempts to get him via the phone.

"Well send someone to get his ass home!" he winked at Sara who suddenly blushed. "I'm more than sure Sidle that if anyone can convince him to come home it should be you..." he leaned heavily against the door frame. "Look if you need to take someone with you...do so but Sidle, I want him back no matter what you have to do, if it means marrying him, then find a frigg'n Justice of the Peace and I'll buy the damned wedding bands." he was laughing now. Sara was not in the least prepared for this side of Conrad but given the opportunity, she'd do whatever it took to rectify the situation.

"How soon can you be ready to roll?" Catherine looked between Sara and Conrad.

"It's gonna be a day before I get up there driving, I'm not sure of the area but...I'm sure I can make pretty good time..." Conrad held up a hand.

"Get David, ask him if his father can arrange to make a drop" he pointed to Greg "Sara, how opposed to another helicopter ride are you?" Sara looked stunned, apparently when Conrad Ecklie wanted something done, shortcuts were not outside of the realm of possibilities with him.

"As long as I'm conscious this time" she teased "I just need to call the sitter and have her keep an eye on Hank and pack a few things..." Brass was standing beside her as she turned around.

"I can make the call to the sitter Sara, I'll drop you off at the house, pack up your stuff, Hank actually can stay with me if it's a problem for the sitter." Sara smiled at the hardened detective.

"Thank you all of you, thanks so much" she turned to address Ecklie but he was already gone. "Reminds me of Col. Flag from MASH" she teased but only the Nicky and Catherine agreed. "Gone like the wind!" she picked up her purse and was gone with Brass before anyone could make the connection.

David's father, once again came through with flying colors and Sara found herself on the tail end of a police escort to Nellis Air Force Base. The drive out there, while it gave her time to consider what she might actually say to Grissom, also caused an immense case of butterflies and her stomach felt queasier than normal. Brass noticed immediately as the brunette next to him clutched her purse tightly.

"What has you more wound up Sara, the flight or seeing Grissom?" he watched her from the corner of his eye as he maneuvered his Taurus behind the two police cars. She swallowed and shook her head.

"The flight will be a piece of cake Jim...but" she need not say more, he knew that Grissom had to have been very hurt to take off the way he had. "I have a question for you, when I get dropped off in the middle of this backwoods town, how the hell am I supposed to get around? It's not like I'll have a car..." she sighed deeply.

"I arranged for the local rental agency to have a car for you at the landing sight...see" he tapped his noggin "Jim Brass is always thinking...always thinking..:" he reached across the console and took her hand in his. "He loves you Sara, believe that and the rest will come easy..." he brought her hand up and placed a kiss on the back of it. "He's a stubborn son of a bitch but he loves you none the less...he just needs to remember that." they drove in silence the rest of the way to the airfield.

Getting the small outboard to the middle of the lake had taken Grissom less time than he thought, will a cooler of beer that he'd picked up from the hardware store where the young girl behind the counter immediately smiled and stated that she remembered him from his last visit. To the counter help in the local grocery store, she was a very nubile and flirtatious girl and she'd made some hand gestures to one of the bottles of beer as she suggested to Gil that she was off by noon and simply loved a day out on the lake...if he was looking for company.

Gil smiled and stated "I don't think my girlfriend would appreciate it!" and picked up the 6 pack and hastily exited the store. The girl, who'd been filing her nails between customers leaned a denim clad hip against the register.

"It's too bad...could have made you one happy man today!" and went back to flirting with the next customer who appeared 5 minutes later.

The small radio that Gil had picked up along with batteries was tucked in the bow along with a hat and sunglasses, a book that he'd been meaning to get to back in Vegas and a towel and sunscreen. At least if the fish weren't biting, he could get a relaxing nap in and not come out looking like a cooked sausage.

Sara got the the airfield only to find out that in incoming storm had somehow managed to delay any further flights. "Dammit!" she slammed her hand against the dashboard and Jim jumped.

"Easy there tiger...we'll just wait it out and hopefully the storm will give up" he sat back and closed his eyes. Sara shot him a look and huffed.

"I could have driven...I still could, why don't you take me back and I can pick up one of the Denalis and head out?" she liked the idea of having her own vehicle and doing things her own way. Brass looked up and turned slowly.

"Thought you wanted to get out there quickly?" he teased.

"This storm hasn't hit and they're not letting anyone fly, I could be on the road already, just take me back and I'll drive myself, I should have done it to begin with..." she waited for him to start the ignition.

"David went through an awful lot to set this up" she could tell he was trying to lighten the mood but honestly, a lonely drive right now was something she was surprisingly looking forward to. It would give her time to gather her thoughts, plan something to say to Grissom when she saw him and hopefully...convince him that she didn't leave him and she did indeed honestly and truly love him.

"It took a phone call Brass, same as it will take to cancel the flight, a phone call!" she put a foot against the dashboard and crossed her arms defiantly across her chest. "Shall I make the call?" she flipped open her cellphone.

"Fine, but I don't think anyone is going to like the idea of you traipsing across the country on your own with a storm coming up...such as it is.." he put the car in drive and quickly pulled out of the parking space. "Ecklie's gonna be pissed, he's probably expecting you to be in and out in record time.."

"Ecklie can wait, in the end, if it works out, he'll have his golden boy back and come out looking like a God for saving Grave from a fate worse than death!" she closed her eyes and thought about it. Conrad had surprised her with his willingness to help get Gil back but she knew in the end, he simply wouldn't want to answer questions about how he managed to lose one of the top Entomologists in the country to start with.


	4. Chapter 4

Jim got her back to the lab just as Nicky was pulling up in one

Jim got her back to the lab just as Nicky was pulling up in one of the new Denalis. "Hey, I thought by now you'd be somewhere over Vegas winging your way toward your man?" he meant it in a teasing tone but as he saw Sara walk up directly in front of him, thrust out her hand with the other loaded with a duffel bag he stepped back and looked to Brass for some help.

"The damned plane has been grounded, nothings going in or going out, not even the freakin' Air Force, it's a little rain for God sake, I even survived that under a car." She realized how easily she said that now, how before; she'd mutter it just under her breath like it was something to be ashamed of. "Give me the keys Stokes!" she stood her ground knowing she'd get better mileage and not only that, the fine looking vehicle beside them also had built in GPS so finding her path to Jackpot Nevada would be just a tad bit less daunting even with the impending storm.

"Ugh, I better clear this with Catherine and Ecklie first, you know, we only got two of these for our shift and…" he stumbled over his words.

"And you're driving my husband's!" she kept her hand out, palm out waiting for the CSI key chain to be dropped into her fist. "Now hand them over Stokes and I'm not asking again!"

"You didn't ask in the first place sweetheart!" Ordinarily, she would have laughed but she'd been put through a lot recently and she'd rather be on the road, listening to some sappy love songs or some classical jazz instead of standing in a parking lot arguing about who got to drive the pretty new SUV.

"I'd give up the keys Nicky; she's not in the mood tonight!" Brass knew when to push her buttons and when to back off and this one was definitely a back off and let her get a move on it moment. Too bad Nick Stokes wasn't such a fast learner as he held the keys just out of her reach. Before he could blink she'd, as gently as she could kneed him in the crotch and yanked the keys away as he doubled over to catch his breath. "I tried to warn you Nick my boy, I tried to warn you!" Jim snickered as the younger man tried to blow out a breath between the throbbing pains.

"Shit girl, you don't play fair." He groaned out then looked for Jim to say something.

"I'm not playing Nicky...when I tell you I want something...then I damned well better get it and if you'd like to keep the girl coming back, take some advice, listen the first time and don't make her ask twice.." Nick turned to Jim who shrugged. "I'll call when I get three Jim!" she waved them off and headed out of the parking lot.

* * *

Gil was happy; he'd caught several Bluegills, a rainbow trout and of course lost his favorite lure within the first two hours of fishing. The lake was well stocked and quiet and he'd gotten in a nap between bites. The drop in temperature took him a bit by surprise along with the young girl standing waving at him from the shore.

"Mr. Grissom...Mr. Grissom!" he recognized her as one of the young girls who worked at the hardware store. "Better get the boat in, there's a storm brewing...should hit in about an hour or two, Adam had me bring you up some kerosene for the lamps, said the lights normally go out when we get hit like this..." she kept up the constant chatter all the time the trolling motor brought him closer to the dock. When he was near enough she motioned for him to toss the line and she snubbed the boat up and expertly tied a knot that would make any sailor proud.

Gil stood up and she whistled before he had the chance to pick up his shirt and slip back into it. "Oh Mr. Grissom there's no need to be all modest here, y'all like family..." she couldn't stop herself from getting a good glimpse of him before he quickly buttoned his shirt. "Oh don't be so shy., Brookie Williams, she's already been with a man...had her heart set on Josh, he's the boy helps out at the local sack and save...well she finally landed him alright, probably got herself in a heap bit of trouble to boot. Her Momma said she got the sense of a rock!" she walked along as Gil carried the fish and the equipment toward the house.

"By the way Mr. Grissom my names Heather McSimms..." she smiled widely.

"Nice to meet you Heather and that would be Grissom...just Grissom is fine..." he smiled and continued on his trek toward the house apparently along with his guest. "Ugh...with this storm coming up...do you think you should be out this far from town?" he made it to the porch, hung the fish on a hook and then dumped the rest of his bait which consisted of the rest of his worms back into the dirt surrounding the house.

"Awe, ya shoulda oughta saved em, there's always great fishing after a storm." Grissom smiled again then slipped out of his shoes "I better get these dressed before I lose power." he was hoping for a quick get away...polite and quick but the girl either wasn't getting the hint or ignoring it. "I'll get these dressed, have just enough time for a quick shower and" he faked a yawn. "I'm thinking a nice nap before dinner would be great.." he was about to step into the house when she reached up and plucked the string of fish from the hook.

"Y'all go take a shower, I can have these cleaned and dress and cooked up by the time you're finished, hell y'all got plenty to eat, I'm sure you could do with a bit of some down home cookin' and I ain't half bad company if I do say so myself..." she waltzed passed him.

"No...Wait...that's not...please...I just...look" he quickly stepped around her into the kitchen "I hope you don't take this the wrong way or consider me being rude...but" he smiled nervously; something about her was oddly familiar. "I'd rather if you just left..." Heather put the fish back on the hook and looked casually over her shoulder.

"It really wouldn't be a problem for me to just clean em up and get them cooked for you….what with you being all alone up here….." she doubled checked and didn't see either a ring on his finger or a tell tale tan line that indicated he was with someone. "Mr. Grissom, you know, I'm 19…..it's not like we'd be doing anything wrong…it's just dinner…" she chuckled.

"Honestly Heather, I appreciate the offer but I kinda left a girl, my…girlfriend…she um….well" he muttered over the words. Heather held up her hand.

"Say no more…I understand perfectly, you came up here for some peace and quiet, some delightful fishing…nothing more!" she leaned down, slipped her shoes back on that she'd quietly slipped off as she'd reached for the stringer of fish. "I hope you enjoy dinner, if there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask…" she was gone in a flash and Gil simply shook his head. He went in, put the fish into the sink and went about gutting and scaling them, then he fillet them and carefully wrapped them in plastic bags he found on one of the pantry shelves. Keeping two out for himself he stuffed the others into the freezer and grabbed one of the beers he'd had left then he made his way to the bedroom where he stripped off his clothes, leaned over the lion claw tub and filled it with warm water.

"He saw her, standing across the street, the San Francisco Bay Bridge behind her, her beautiful brunette hair pulled haphazardly into a quickly thought up pony tail. She took his breath away like she always did and the smile she gave was the one she saved just for him.

"I love you Gilbert Grissom…you know I do…." She mouthed to him from across the way, he could see her lips moving but he could hear her as if she stood beside him. "Don't ever doubt that…I'm coming Gilbert….just for you…." He woke with a start and could feel beads of sweat pouring down his face even thought the bathwater had already gone cold. Sitting upright, he looked around before reaching for a towel to wrap around his waist. He pulled another from a rack and toweled his hair dry then went into the bedroom and lay down.

Sleep claimed him instantly and for once he was spared the dreams where Sara was always just out of his grasp. Natalie would be finished burying her under the car and he'd arrive to late, Dr. Lurie would be disemboweling her in the tub or slitting her throat and he could do nothing more than watch. Sometimes he'd wake up shaking violently only to go back to sleep and slip right back into the dream as if his life were on an 8mm reel and part of a horrid movie.

When he finally work, he got dressed, made himself a pot of coffee and went to sit out on the porch and watch the sunrise. Normally he'd be working at this time so to get the opportunity to enjoy nature's display of grandeur was a gift that Gil Grissom didn't take for granted. He watched two geese waddling around the front yard, the larger of the two was honking loudly at its mate...and he thought about Catherine, how she'd follow him around chuffing out orders left and right as if he still had difficulty hearing her. She made a great co-supervisor and he felt a pang of guilt that he'd not told her as much before he left.

He wondered what they all thought of him. Catherine would be mad that she was stuck with all his paperwork but probably thrilled that she more than likely inherited his job. Warrick would hold down the fort, taking over as second in command just as he always thought he might. Although the younger man had been having problems, he's been honest and was trying to get back on track. Nick was also greatly qualified as was Greg. That brought a smile to his face remembering how Sara had taken the young man under her wing, mentored him in a way that mad Grissom beam with pride. He had taken the time to tell her that she would make a wonderful teacher and remembered how she'd quickly brushed off his praise as if it had been no big deal.

When Wendy had expressed an interest in becoming a CSI, he'd seriously considered bringing it to Conrad's attention and asking him about putting Sara in charge of mentoring new recruits. He knew with her solve rate and her attention to detail, anyone that came away from her teachings would certainly be among the tops in their positions. Sara's leaving had put a damper on that and the sudden thought of her made him sad once again.

He thought back to his last visit with her, and then to the times she'd chased him only to have him rebuff her at every turn, she'd waited with only one warning that _by the time he'd figured it out, it might be too late._ He was sure when things had finally fell into place and they'd gotten together that he'd actually found Heaven on earth and that she'd finally found the happiness she knew would be possible with him. Natalie took care of those dreams and while she had not succeeded in killing Sara, she's managed to unearth the ghosts of her past that she'd managed to keep buried for years and in turn, they'd dropped a pall of gloom around her that wouldn't even allow her to smile. Her last case had been the be all end all of things and when Hannah West had reappeared, it had been the final nail in the coffin surrounding her.

He closed his eyes and let the tears he held back fall again. His heart was broken when she'd kissed him, walked away and left with only a letter. The few phone calls had been hard, they never really talked because he felt that if he asked too much, he'd push her further away. His own fear had manifested itself so tightly that the last straw pushed him to the confrontation that in his mind ended everything. He'd bared himself, his soul and his heart only to have her act like it meant nothing to her. When he'd left that day, he'd left his heart and soul behind and now, alone with his books and his thoughts, he promised himself never to allow anyone or anything to ever get close enough to hurt him that badly again.


	5. Chapter 5

Sara was thankful that she'd decided to drive instead of fly, it would give her time to put in order everything she needed to say to Gil. Her heart broke when he'd come to her, divested himself of his clothes and every layer of walls that had been possibly left standing He'd stood before her baring everything, his feelings, heart and soul, his body and instead of taking what he had, instead of telling him he was everything, she'd first lashed out that he'd even bothered to show unannounced in the first place and then, tossed words in his face that he himself had never said to her.

She'd hurt him badly, so bad in fact that he had never returned to the lab choosing like her to say what he needed in a letter and walk away from everyone and everything that was his life. He'd left behind the only family he had left, a dog he dearly loved, friends he'd made after half a lifetime working in his chosen field. He'd left behind a career he'd honed and sharpened until he was the most requested Entomologist in North America.

She didn't know where he eventually planned to end up but for now, he was still in Jackpot and that is where her GPS was taking her. Three and a half ours into a seven or eight hour drive, she'd pulled over only to refuel and to grab a quick bite to eat at a local Subway knowing she really had not appetite but a veggie sub would tide her over for the time being.

She was just wadding up the paper when her phone rang. Checking caller ID she saw it was Warrick Brown.

"Hey, how's the drive to no where land?" he teased lightly knowing that the drive she was on and the purpose behind it was difficult at best.

"Miles and miles of miles and miles" she joked right back. "Miss me already do you?" she heard Warrick talking to someone in the background.

"Yeah, Cath said to be careful, the weather shift up near the Nevada and Idaho border looks pretty wicked right now, if you have to hole up somewhere and she said she'll get it expensed for you." he was reading the weather chart that Arch had pulled up for him.

"I've got about 4 more hours before I'm there Warrick, I'm doing okay..." what she didn't say was easily filled in by her friend.

"And scared shitless?" He added and heard a brief but painful chuff.

"Yeah, that too..." she smiled remembering when she and Warrick thought they were bound to be bitter enemies. "Warrick...what if he refuses to see me?" she finally put voice to a fear she'd carried since he walked away. "What if he hates me?" she felt the bitter sting of tears fill her eyes.

"Hate you? Gil Grissom hate you...never gonna happen girlfriend, never gonna happen!" He hoped he was correct knowing from what Catherine told her, he had to have been pretty hurt to leave the way he did. "Listen Sara, you and Grissom are meant to be together, Natalie couldn't tear you apart and you can't let your past do it either. We can change what we are, we can change what we do, we can't change our pasts but we sure and hell can change our future and I know that for a fact so, you go change your future, get your man, get your lives back and then get your asses back to work cause I'm damned tired of working doubles..." he heard her crack up laughing

"Ah, so I see how this works Warrick, it's all about you..." She felt instantly better.

"Yup baby girl, it's all about me...now go do your stuff and don't come home till you have that geeky science guy with you.." he heard Catherine laugh behind him as he clicked off the phone.

Geeky science guy, yeah...far from it, she thought to herself. While everyone was pretty convinced they knew Gil Grissom, even his closest friend Catherine didn't know all the cards he'd held so close to the vest. The Grissom the lab knew was just that, a geeky science nerd with little or no feelings although how wrong they were about that became abundantly clear on several occasions. When she'd been involved with the lab explosion, a few bricks had fallen from his proverbial 'wall' when he'd slipped and called her 'Honey' again when he could have fired her and chose to stand up to not only Catherine but also Conrad Ecklie., again when Nick was kidnapped, when Greg wound up in the hospital because of a brutal beating and then to top it all off, when he slipped about loving her in front of his entire team.

The Gil she knew was a romantic, practical joker who loved to buy her little trinkets, take long walks along the lake holding hands, star gazing in their backyard, making love in the desert, eating ice cream while swapping 'do you remember when' stories. He loved to cook and making breakfast in bed, if he managed to wake up before her was a favorite past time, watching the Chicago Cubs or listening to them on Satellite radio was an indulgence that could get him riled up like a little boy. He would say he was superstitious but he insisted on wearing his worn out cubs jersey which he told Sara "Must never ever be washed" and his hat which had itself seen better days. Whether they won or not, he would take off each item and return them to their chosen place in his home office. He played endless games of fetch with Hank and took great pleasure in teasing the Boxer with the garden hose as he gently sprayed the various plants that filled his garden.

Yes, Gil Grissom loved to garden, he had a green thumb when it came to flowers, plants and veggies and Sara knew she'd never run short with him doing his best imitation of Farmer Brown. She teased him about it when he'd first broken the ground and took up a good corner of their yard after spending days studying the path and pattern of the sunlight that seemed never ending.

"What are you doing?" She'd been doing dishes when she looked out and saw him slam the first spade of dirt onto a pile that would soon grow quite large. She stood on the deck leaning against the railing.

"Planting...I'm planting a garden" he wiped the sweat from his brow and pulled his hat back in place on his head. "You like veggies, I like to grow them...you'll always have veggies now...I'm good at growing them, wait you'll have so many you'll be able to open a farm stand.." and he was nearly right until Hank decided that tomatoes were just red balls that needed to be bitten into and left laying around, up when the chicken wire fence until she complained it was an eyesore. Then he dug up the some of the other veggie plants and Gil had to have a split rail fence installed with green vinyl behind it so you wouldn't notice it against the green vegetables.

The roses were next, pink and yellow, red and white, even some mutations that he developed himself. No one saw this side of him but everyone that eventually saw his work commented about how beautiful it looked and smelled. There were houseplants everywhere and a special place near the sink reserved specifically for the plant he'd first sent her to keep her in Vegas. It went there without question and was constantly in bloom.

The hours ticked by and soon she was only about an hour and a half away from her destination when the first of the storms blew in. Rain pelted the windshield as the wipers strove unsuccessfully to keep the glass clear. The wind whipped up slamming bits of dirt and rocks against the door of the Denali and making it a struggle for Sara to keep on the road. Perhaps she should have listened to Warrick and took refuge in one of the roadside motels but pride and her affinity for being extremely choosy about where she slept had kept her on the road and now, struggling against a growing storm, she started to question the sanity of her earlier decision.

Gil picked up his cellphone and noticed he had a message, the only person that even knew his new number was Jim Brass and he was instructed to call only in the event of an extreme emergency. Feeling his heart race he pressed the speed dial for his friend and heard it ring twice before it was picked up.

"Brass?" His voice was hesitant, afraid what news his friend might have to break to him. "Everyone alright?" he heard the snicker in Jim's voice before he heard him chuckle.

"Can't leave it behind can you Gil?...How's the fishing?" Gil looked around wondering how it was that Brass would ask such a question.

"Fishing? Who said I was fishing?" he stood up and noticed the storm clouds on the horizon. Figuring he had about an hour or so before it really came down, he went about locking up the shutters while holding the phone tightly between his shoulder and cheek.

"I know everything Gilbert, haven't you figured it out...I was once the head of CSI if you remember that long ago." he heard Gil laugh and continued. "How long you staying put?" Gil got the two front windows covered and looked around to see what else might need to be closed up before the storm hit. He knew from experience that the storms brewing could be downright dangerous in these parts.

"Well, I've got a storm coming in, from the looks of it it's coming up Great Basin Highway so it should be a bastard when it gets here." he watched the sky darken even as they spoke.

"Ohhhh..ugh...shit...shit not good, not good at all..." he heard Brass start to mumble... "You sure about the direction it's coming in?" Brass was frantically waving toward Greg who had just walked in. "Get me a weather report, I think the storms heading her way..." he heard whispering and put his finger in his other ear to hear.

"What? She drove? I thought she was flying...who the hell let her drive?" Catherine's voice could be heard in the background and she sounded less than enthusiastic.

"Brass?...Jim...JIM!" he finally couldn't stand it anymore. "What the hell is going on who's driving what? Where?" he paced the porch with a sinking feeling in his gut. "Brass talk to me...Now!" he realized he lost that authority but something about the way his friend kept covering the phone had him worried.

"She took his Denali, she demanded the keys and I couldn't do anything about it." he heard Nick's voice pipe up now. "I swear to God, she told me the flight got delayed because of the storm but she thought she'd be okay to drive."

"I talked to her earlier, she sounded okay...a little tired, told her to pull into a motel like you told me Cath, I told her we'd expense it..." Gil's senses slipped into high alert now.

"James Brass just who the fuck are you guys talking about?" he could feel the beginning of a mist on the wind. "Jim for God sakes talk to me already...who is driving where?" he looked around and felt a stillness then more wind, then more rain and knew the storm was moving fast and furious so he moved inside to finish the call. Lightening streaked the sky like a vein of flashing gold and the static on his phone made it hard to hear but he could have sworn he heard his friend saying something along the lines of ... "Sara...she's on her way to ..." before the call was disconnected. Gil closed the door and leaned heavily against it... "Where?..where is she on the way to...?" he asked the phone even though he knew his friend was no longer there...


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thank you all for the wonderful response this story is getting, to those who have asked, I have not given up on "I don't want the world to end" I'm just taking a breather as I work in the action, this story is stuck in my head and if I get it out of the way, then I can get back to the other...thanks for the fantastic reviews, they were more than I could hope for...now enjoy!**

Gil simply stared at the phone realizing that perhaps he should have been a bit more puzzled how the first calls on his phone had been from Catherine and Conrad, neither were supposed to have his number and both apparently had and in fact had tried to call him leaving messages which he realized all to soon he'd stupidly erased without listening to them. Now he could kick himself.

Making sure that everything that could be closed up was, he picked up the house phone and dialed 911 hoping to get Alan.

"Jackpot PD how can I help you?" came a cute little voice that reminded Gil of Judy from the lab.

"This is Gil Grissom, I'm staying up at Leland Brooks place, is the Sheriff available please?" he prayed she'd answer positively but heard her inhale.

"Mr. Grissom, he's out doing his usual route up and down US 93, when storms come in like the one we're expecting, he likes to get the drivers in the area holed up in the local hotels as quickly as possible, most of them passing though have never dealt with the headwinds we get out here." she herself was a native of the area and knew from personal experience that driving in this weather took years of skill and experience. "I'm expecting him to check in soon but...would you like me to have him call you when he checks in?"

"Yes please, US 93, that's also Great Basin Highway right?" Gil was pretty sure but wanted a moment to gather his thoughts.

"Yeah, worse stretch of road to get caught on if the weather channel is right...flash floods, couple places where there have been falling rocks, you know, washouts and the likes., I hope you're not planning on going out in this ... you're not are you Mr. Grissom?" Gil had been thinking along those lines, if what he thought he'd heard was right, Sara could be out there right now and the last place she needed to be was stuck in some washout or flood or worse... "I certainly wouldn't recommend it, especially not in that fancy car of yours, hell it wouldn't make it through some of the area, it floods pretty quick up here..." she heard the crackle of the radio letting her know that Alan was trying to check in. "Mr. Grissom, Sheriff Brooks is trying to get through, let me tell him to call you.." she took the number then realized that Alan would more than likely remember his own brother's phone number.

"Thank you..." he didn't recall her name so a personal thank you was out of order. "I'll wait for his call" and he heard her disconnect. All he could do now was pace and worry. He pulled the cord as far as it would allow and stood just inside the front screen door., the sky had taken on an eerie green cast and he could feel the electricity in the air. Lightening could be seen from one side of the horizon to the next and with each crack of thunder, he remembered hearing that you could tell how close a storm was by the seconds between booms, if he was right, he still had about 30 minutes or so before it hit.

The ringing phone in his hand caused him to jump, quickly he looked around as if anyone was there to see his reaction then put the receiver to his ear.

"Grissom!" old habits died hard.

"Jamie Lynn told me you called, everything okay up there?" Alan knew how bad the storms were this time of year and wondered if Grissom would be okay alone in his brother's place.

"Yeah., listen...I got a call from a friend of mine...I couldn't hear him plain enough but if I got the gist of what he said, my girl...a friend...my girlfri...okay, my wife, Sara she might be out in the storm, She's driving up to ..."

"She'd be coming up 93 right?" Alan had figured there was some reason Gil had left his position and come out to the middle of nowhere and he just got his answer. He'd be damned if he didn't do something to help the man out, after all, if it hadn't been for his thoroughness, Alan's own brother might have taken the fall for a murder he had not committed.

"Yeah, she's driving the Denali so I'm hoping that helps somewhat with the roads, I know Jamie is it?" he wanted Alan to know she'd been very helpful.

"Yeah...she mentioned you'd called, said you seemed a bit out of sorts." He watched the sky for any ominous signs as he drove toward 93. "I'll keep a lookout for her, I like to patrol that stretch only because it takes a beating in storms like the one coming in." He heard Gil's intake of breath. "Any idea when she might have left Vegas?" He figured it would give him at least a slight estimate of where she might be. "Is there any chance she might lay low if a storm like this is brewing?" he knew something about women and if this one was bound and determined to come from Vegas to see her man, there was no telling what she could be capable of.

"Honestly, I don't know the answer to either of those questions. Can I call you back?" he picked up his cellphone.

Alan supplied him with his personal cell but told him not to be too surprised if reception wasn't exactly what he was accustomed to in Vegas. "There aren't that many cells around and with the storm well, I'm sure you're already aware of that..make your calls, get back to me and if I see anything, I'll call you..." Gil heard the phone disconnect, tried his own cell and got a no service for his efforts.

"Shit...shit, shit, shit.." he threw it down on the plaid sofa and paced the room then went back and opened the front door once again. The sky hadn't changed much, it was still greenish gray and the winds had picked up slightly, the rain could be seen on the horizon and Gil's stomach churned from nerves. "God Sara, why now...why would you pick the worst possible day to drive...?" he asked no one in particular, not dwelling on the real issues...why was she coming at all? Why would she decide after sending him away that she wanted to talk to him? She hadn't wanted to when he was willing to bare everything to her and now, when he'd finally made a decision to leave everything including her behind...now she wanted to talk? He could analyze it till the cows came home and he wouldn't understand it and right now, as much as he was angry at her...hurt and broken hearted, he still would never want to see her hurt again, he'd seen plenty of that.

While deep in thought his cellphone chirped and he saw it was Catherine.

"Grissom!" he answered rather tiredly. Between crackles, he could just make out a few of the things she was saying..

"Gil.._crackle_..can you hear me? _crackle _Gil?...It's Cath..._crackle..._..._crackle_...if you can hear me...Gil? Sa..._crackle.._ is on _crackle _way _crackle_ up to _crackle_ you..."

"When did she leave Catherine...?" he heard only more static "Catherine...Cath...for God sakes Cath when did she leave?" he knew how desperate his voice sounded now but he didn't care, his only concern was for her safety, come what may of their relationship, he surely couldn't live with himself if something happened because of him.

"Should..._crackle_...been..._crackle_...around..._crackle_..." and the phone once again went dead...

"When? When did she leave? Catherine...!" He slammed the phone against his thigh and leaned his head heavily against the wooden door frame..."Please God...don't let anything happen to her...please...?" If hitting his knees and prayer was what it took to keep her safe, then by God that was exactly what he'd do...it was funny how people who claimed not to believe in God called on him whenever the chips were down and Gil Grissom apparently was no different. It also confused him how God always got the blame whenever prayers weren't answered in the timely manner people assumed they should be or when everything went wrong, it was usually God who was held accountable for the shortcomings of man.

"I know, I'm not one to talk am I?" he spoke to a higher power as he walked around the living room. "Haven't been to church since one of my cases dragged me there...that's me, guilty as charged." he would have chuckled under ordinary circumstances. "I know I haven't been a faithful Catholic...I guess you might even say I haven't been a Catholic for sometime...I certainly don't deserve any of your time...but, if you had a moment...well" he ran a errant hand through his hair and laughed out loud at the thought of him suddenly turning to God... "You see, I've loved her...I never stopped...truth be told I've loved Sara Sidle or...well, it's Grissom now but., well, not to many people know that, bet you're wondering why we didn't ...well, we didn't it was something we probably should have told...but we didn't...guilty again.." he sat heavily on the plaid sofa as if settling in for a long discussion.

"You see God, I always thought she could do better than me, I'm older...like you didn't already know that...She was my student and I...well, I just couldn't help it, a woman like her doesn't come around twice in a lifetime..."he sighed. "So anyway, we kinda got involved when she was in San Francisco and then we went our separate ways...I came back to Vegas thinking she'd get on with her life and forget about me only..." he smiled "I couldn't forget about her...anyway...after Holly died, I'm sure you remember Holly Gribbs, after she died, I needed someone to investigate Warrick...and I asked her to come here, she did...truth is God, I wanted her here with me from the moment I left her at the airport...so as much as it was an excuse to get her, Holly's death that is...it was also because I figured that at the very least, I'd get to see her everyday...

He got up once again and paced to the door, opened it and noticed the weather had worsened. "Anyway..." he returned to his seat much like a sinner to their confessional..."She comes here and for years I pushed and pulled and pushed her away, over and over again...but we finally got it together God, we finally got together and God, it was good...I can say that right?" he laughed again, like someone was going to come and say "No, you can't tell God that..." he sat back against the stuffed pillows. "She was Heaven on earth God...an angel, taught me how to laugh and love...I thought I was living until she came into my life...when I finally let her in...I found out what it was like to be loved...not like a Mother loves her son, you know my Mom loved me, hell ... sorry God, I know she loved me...but with Sara..." he felt the early vestige of tears and quickly stood up...

Meanwhile...

Sara grew quite concerned with the color of the sky around her. Remembering the movie Twister, she recalled them getting all excited about how the sky had taken on a grayish green cast..."Who the hell likes to chase a damned Tornado God?" she realized she'd cursed and quickly apologized silently to a God she always questioned her own belief in. "Anyway...this is looking pretty nasty, I hope to ... here I go again but I hope you're listening, I could really use a motel, much as I hate them...you never know just exactly how those stains got on the ceiling but there they are...in every hotel and motel you ever lay eyes on., it sucks you know, being a CSI and knowing 'exactly' how some of those stains _might _have gotten there...there I go on assumption again., Grissom would frown at that" she chuckled lightly. "He always said "Let the evidence speak to you, don't interpret just yet Sara!" She did her best imitation of Gil's voice and laughed at herself for coming up short.

Just around the next turn, she located a little out of the way place and noticed it was brick "Well, it's a sturdy looking place...if you're having any ideas of sending a twister my way..." she pressed the turn indicator and made a sharp right into the crowded parking lot "Looks like I'm not the only guest in town..." she suppressed an urge to giggle and quickly, finding a parking place, made a dash for the front office.

The man behind the counter was a little thing, balding with round wire rimmed glasses making her think of Professor Peabody, a cartoon she'd once seen many years ago...

"May I help you Miss?" he stood patiently, hands folded as Sara shook off the worst of the rain.

"I'd like a room...you do have one?" she moved up to lean against the tiled counter that looked like something out of a Happy Days episode.

"A room?" he looked slightly perplexed and Sara glanced at her surroundings.

"This is a motel right?" the man nodded enthusiastically. "And motels have rooms?" again his head bobbed much like those dolls you'd see on the dashboards or in the back windows of the older cars. "So, do you have any rooms?" she tapped her fingernail against the grout on the tiled counter.

"Oh...yeah, them kind of rooms...let me see" he pulled out a slightly dilapidated book and started to peruse through it..."Yes, I seem to have just one left...it's down the hall nearest the stairwell...it's a nice quiet room, no one across the hall from you...would you be interested?"

Suddenly Sara had the feeling that if she looked out a window toward the house behind the motel, there could be a great likelihood that in the upper window the shadow of a woman in a rocker might just be visible. Great, only motel I've passed for awhile and he puts me up in 'Murder Central', she thought to herself but kept any comments quiet.

"Tell me you're name's not Norman please?" she queried gently and got a chuckle from the man.

"Oh heavens no...no, my names Wilber Norbert Piedmont...folks around here just call me Norb...or Wilber...that's Wilber with an er instead of the ur most Wilbur's come with..." he mumbled on and on while ringing up the room. "How will you be paying Miss...err.."

"Mrs...Mrs. Gilbert Grissom.." she didn't know why she chose to use her married name but something about it and the situation seemed to warrant it's use.

"Kinda funny, Gilbert, Wilber...almost sounds alike...will your husband be joining...it's only a single, has a full size bed, pretty comfy mattress if you ask me...probably the most comfortable room we have..." he winked at her and Sara felt like she suddenly needed a shower...


	7. Chapter 7

The room that Norb took Sara to was something out of a murder novel, or so her mind was playing tricks on her. It was, as he said, down the end of the hall, no other room nearby and a stairwell directly across from it. A darkly wallpapered, mahogany paneled and burgundy draped ensemble made up the decorations. She remembered the case where she'd tried to trick Nicky into believing that she knew 'exactly' what '_murder central_' meant when in fact, she really had no clue. Before Grissom had left them to their assigned duties, he'd patiently pointed it out to both of them and Sara blushed when Nick told her she was "so busted". Grissom always managed to incorporate teaching into every case they handled and each was the better for it.

There was a fireplace, surrounded by ornately carved mahogany trim with a lions head etched in the middle directly under the mantel. The pictures lined across the large wood mantel were in black and white and from what Sara could tell, genuine family portraits but of whom, she wasn't curious enough to ask.

"The linens are in the bathroom, there are extra blankets in the closet, it gets kinda cold up here at night but there's wood beside the fireplace if you need it..." he turned to Sara "I could start a fire for you now if you'd prefer?" Sara shook her head and thanked him. He looked almost disappointed at her gentle refusal but simply shook it off.

"I'm pretty good at that myself...but thank you for the offer..." she waited for him to hand her the key trying hard not to dwell on the fact he had raved about the bed being the most comfortable in the entire motel, how he knew that she also wasn't going to ask him until she notice him move quickly around to the other side, park his butt on the edge of the mattress, spread out his hands and bounce up and down like an excited child.

"See? Firm but bouncy" he proclaimed between each bounce "Real nice and soft, you kinda just sink right in...it's got a memory foam pad on top..." Sara was hoping that the memory foam didn't have much to remember and the thought of Norb curling up in the same bed that she was supposed to use tonight almost made her reconsider taking a chance against the weather. The winds could be heard outside rattling the glass.

"Do you guys get tornadoes up here?" Her eyes followed the sound.

"Once in awhile, last one...we had pretty much wiped Jackpot off the map but the people weren't gonna give up that easily and rebuilt, most of the original structures were put back up...on their original sites so it felt like it was...well I wasn't here for that mind you, my Great grand parents were, they were both killed in that twister..." he turned to walk out the door and pointed to one of the pictures on the mantel "that's them...on their wedding day..." he handed her the keys and moved again toward the door. "Actually they died in the original hotel that was here, this was their favorite room so naturally, the family had to rebuild and tried to make things as close to original as possible." With that he bid her goodnight and left her to her thoughts. Suddenly the room felt much colder and Sara instantly regretted not having had him light a fire.

"If you're around" she said as if the couple might hear her, "I'd really appreciate if you didn't make an appearance tonight...rooms lovely but I'd really rather not share..." she almost sat down then remembered the little man on the bed and moved to the sofa nearest the fireplace. She pulled a pillow from the bed along with a blanket from the closet and made a makeshift bed out of the overstuffed ancient piece of furniture.

She picked up her cell and considered calling Grissom but what would she say? "Hey it's me, Sara just decided that I fucked up royal and I really want you back...so I drove all this way...now I'm stuck in the Bates Motel?" she shook her head at the thought...then thought about how much of a chance he'd taken by showing up on her doorstep uninvited, only she prayed to God that she'd be given what she hadn't offered herself. Love and understanding instead of a coldness that she'd tossed in his face. She really was sorry for how she'd acted and prayed again that given a chance, she could make everything right between them. After all, he really was the only home she'd ever known and in all honesty, the only pure happiness she'd experienced in all the years she'd been alive. To top it off, he was the only man she'd actually given her heart to and she knew now, although there were rumors of Heather and Terri, she had been the only woman that Gil had given _everything_ to, she only hoped he would let her keep it...

Any further thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door and when she opened it a crack, Norb was standing with a fruit plate, crackers and cheese.

"I thought you might be hungry, the kitchen is closed for the night but I still had a few things and I'm always happy to share..." she opened the door a little wider to take the plate not realizing that what he meant was he wanted to share the food with her...in her room. Norb took a step forward then realized she hadn't understood his meaning. "See I always have fruit, cheese and crackers before I turn in, with the weather like it is, I figured I'd stay here...in the motel instead of up at the house, it doesn't have a cellar...just in case you know..." he waved the plate again. "So I figured we could polish these off before we turn in...I'm in the room just down the hall, ordinarily, I'd take this one, what with that comfy mattress..." he looked past her and noticed the pillow and blankets on the sofa. "You didn't like the bed?" he seemed genuinely saddened by the revelation.

"Um...well, since I got married, I'm kinda used to having my husband beside me...ya know..." she shrugged slightly hoping he'd get her drift. "Seems kinda lonely without him here so I figured I'd just curl up on the sofa, I hope you don't mind?" she really didn't care what he thought...because she sure and hell wasn't sleeping in that damned bed after his ass had been on it.

"You don't wear your wedding rings..." he motioned to her empty hands. "If I was married to you, I'd make sure you always wore your wedding rings, a married lady should wear her wedding rings, it lets men know she's not available..." he looked like he wanted to put the plate down somewhere and scooted around her. "I think married people should always wear their rings, don't you" he turned and faced her and for a moment, he kind of reminded her of the stalker that had been after Nick, in a distant sort of way.

"Oh I do, normally...but you see in my line of work...well...they tend to rip my gloves...and well, I'm afraid of losing them..." she muttered trying to figure out how to politely get him out of her room.

"You wear gloves? Are you a gardener? Doctor? Nurse, that's got to be it, you're probably a nurse" Sara shook her head..

"Actually, I work for the Las Vegas Police Department" she watched his curious little face change "I'm a Crime Scene Investigator, I ... " she saw him smile.

"Oh, you mean like CSI Miami that's so cool... do you see a lot of dead bodies...? Well that was a stupid question...really I'm sure you've seen a few...maybe more, like hundreds...after all you work in Vegas, God I bet there are murders left and right in that town..." he looked like he was really enjoying the conversation now. "So tell me what's the weirdest thing you've seen?" Sara checked her watch and hoped he would catch on.

"Listen Norb, you're really nice to bring the cheese and crackers and stuff here, it was really sweet but I've been driving all day and I'm really tired so..." but he didn't seem to even take the direct approach and Sara pictured herself physically dragging him out of her room and throwing his scrawny ass into the hallway.

He was about to say more but the suddenly blinking of lights silenced him for a moment. "Shit I hope we don't lose power..." He stood quickly and made his way to the door. "Enjoy the treat, if the lights go out, I'll have to go up to the house to get the generator going there first then I can come back..." he saw her yawn again... "Perhaps I'll see you at breakfast...the hotel kitchen opens at 6 am, best bacon and sausage you can get in these parts.." he waved before slipping out the heavy door. Sara moved right behind him and slid the deadbolt back home then checked the meager lock in the doorknob. Finally she moved a chair against the door and wedged that under the handle figuring, at worst she was safe from the little creepy man and would just deal if any '_ghosts_' showed up.


	8. Chapter 8

Gil attempted to get through to both Jim Brass and Catherine several more times over the course of 30 minutes and each time either the line was complete static or he'd get the typical _no service_ on the screen, which only served to upset him more. He'd probably opened and closed the front door 50 or so times to check the conditions and each time the storm had moved closer, the sky had gotten darker and yet, he'd still heard nothing about the whereabouts of Sara.

Alan Brooks drove 93 looking left and right for the Denali Grissom had asked him to keep an eye out for. Nothing so far except for helping an older couple change a tire, direct them to the nearest hotel where he adamantly stressed the importance of them checking in and taking cover from the impending storm. Needless to say, the gentleman who was easily in his 80's wasn't all that happing having someone younger telling him what he should be doing when he was twice the man's age and had obviously seen more things in his life then some smart ass whipper snapper with a badge and a gun. Alan simply smiled, shook his head and made sure the man and his wife were on their way to the hotel.

The next person he came upon was driving an older RV and had his wife and three small kids with him, he didn't really think it was such a bad idea that he was driving through this storm and Alan had to just about threaten him with child endangerment if he insisted on continuing on his journey. "What the hell do you mean trying to tell me I'd be endangering my kids? I'd never hurt my kids?" he'd put his hands on his hips and looked incredulously at Alan. Brooks didn't back down. "Listen Mr. Maynard" he'd gotten the name from his drivers license. "All I'm saying is the worst thing you could do right now is try to make it through with an RV in this kind of weather, hell the winds that come up would drive you right off the road, wouldn't want to see you, your wife or your kids injured now would you?" he'd successfully put the ball right back in his court and could easily tell that the larger man was not liking it one bit.

"Hell no, I certainly wouldn't but we bought this to save money, I ain't got no money for no hotel motel, them places are expensive as hell and for what? I got beds, toilet and shower right here in this here RV perfectly good place to sleep, a roof over our head and no one charging me up the ying yang for it either!" his arms whipped in the wind like a windmill.

"Look Mr. Maynard, I see where you're coming from but trust me, I'm from these parts, you're not and I'm telling you as sure as we're standing here arguing, that motor home of yours won't last 20 minutes in the winds that will be coming down this highway now, I have better things to do than stand here going toe to toe with you about this, you have two choices, you can be the bigger man, take your family to a safe place and wait out this storm or you can follow me back to the station where I'll gladly charge you for reckless endangerment of a child on three counts" he held up three fingers for emphasis "and I'm not joking...what's it gonna be?" Maynard looked at his wife who had her arms wrapped protectively around her three children.

"Fine, have it your way...I'll stop at the motel!" he snatched back his license and motioned for his family to load back up.

"Have a nice day...stay safe, you should easily get there in the next five minutes, it's just up the road on your right, tell them Alan sent you and make sure they give you a discount because of the weather!" Brooks tipped his hat and moved back to his squad.

Archie was watching the local weather broadcast when Catherine came into the AV lab.

"Any word from either of them?" she'd hoped that either Gil or Sara might have contacted him. Archie shook his head and pointed to the latest update.

"They're going to get hit pretty bad in the next 15 minutes...there are three cells converging over Jackpot, I hope to God they're talking cover, has anyone heard from Sara?" Brass had just entered the building and for the last 15 minutes had been fruitlessly dialing both Gil and Sara's cellphones.

"Why the hell does he have to go to the end of the fucking earth when he gets a fit up his ass?" he was ranting on and on as he tossed down his car keys and his cellphone to pull of his soaked suit jacket. Catherine gave a brief chuckle. "I've been trying to reach both of them and all I get is that damned "Out of the service area" message, I'd like to find out who the bitch is they used to record it, she's to damned chipper..." that drew a laugh from everyone.

"Guess that answers your question" Catherine put down the stack of paperwork she'd been carrying. "Archie, have you noticed a change on either or their GPS systems?" Archie punched in his codes and shook his head.

"Grissom's been stationary and it looks like Sara's put down roots as well, he keyed in some coordinates and the screen scrolled. "She's staying at the Wayside Motel on Interstate 93...he spun around and looked at everyone, exactly where the storm should hit the worst..." Jim looked again at his phone.

"Archie, try call him on the land line, if you can't get through, patch me to the local police, I want him aware that Sara's up there, if something happens to her, he needs to know she's there.." he turned to Catherine "I feel like I should be doing something...but I don't know what..." he wanted to say he felt guilty for letting Sara talk him into letting her drive in the first place but the words burned his throat and he couldn't give voice to his guilt. Catherine put a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"She did what she wanted Jim, no one was going to stop her...not you, not me..."

"And not me..." Ecklie was standing behind them... "We all know how stubborn both of them are, come one guys, they're Gil and Sara they've been together all this time...need I say more..." he smiled guiltily. They all agreed. "Archie did you get through?" The tech nodded.

"I got Grissom's number from the girl at the local sheriff's office, it's ringing now!" he handed the phone over to Jim who put the call on speaker phone.

"Grissom...Brooks did you find her?" his voice was filled with angst and Jim looked around the room "Please tell me you found her..." his voice cracked and Catherine had to cover her mouth to suppress a gasp.

"It's Jim Gil, but I have some good news, Sara's hold up at a place on 93...it's called the Wayside Motel..."

"Oh thank God!" he heaved a sigh and sat down heavily on the arm of the sofa.. "Thank God!" his hand wiped at the tears that had steadily streamed down his face as he imagined his life without her.

"Problem is Gil, the storms heading right for her, Archie's tracked three cells, they're set to converge on or near her within 10 minutes or so...I'm sorry Gil, how far away from there are you now?" he wasn't familiar with the area himself and wondered if Gil could even get to her... "Gil? Grissom?...Gil are you still there?"... apparently, either the phone had disconnected...or...

Gil hadn't waited to hear anymore, he knew the possibility of getting to her before the storm hit was slim to none but he had to try. He also realized that his car was not the safest mode of transportation but figured that he'd try to contact Alan on his way toward the motel and hope that they could possibly meet up somewhere along the way. The receptionist was none to happy to realize he had decided to go out in such foul weather but quickly understood when he explained in an abbreviated form that his wife was somewhere out there and he was going to find her come hell or high water.

His ringing cellphone proved just how efficient Jamie Lynn was when he heard Brooks yelling at him asking him if he was completely out of his mind. "I could have easily went and picked her up Grissom...now I have to worry about you and her...are you absolutely fucking insane?"

"No, I'm just in love you idiot...I want my wife and I want to make sure she safe..." he was driving like a bat out of hell "Where can I meet you?" Alan looked around and realized he was less than three minutes from the motel where as, it would probably take Gil a good 20 with the storm coming in the way it was. "Go back Grissom, go back to Leland's place and stay put, I'm only 3 minutes out, I'll pick her up and bring her to you...just do what I'm telling you..:" he saw the sky around him blacken with each passing second as he neared the motel. "I'm in the parking lot ..." his phone went dead before he could say any more and Gil was left wondering what to do. His head told him to turn around, his heart told him differently...and this time he was listening to his heart no matter what..

Alan pulled up as close to the building as he could, tossed his hat in the seat nest to him, tucked his cellphone, for as useful as it had been into one of his shirt pockets and then exited the truck after parking beside the Denali. Running to the front desk, he slipped inside just as the wind kicked up and banged on the bell on the desk. He tried waiting patiently knowing that the weather outside wasn't a typical storm and he could hear the building creaking as the intensity of the storm picked up even more. "Dammit Wilber where the hell are you?" he walked around the desk. Reaching under the desk, he pulled out the guest log and skimmed over the page till he came to the name Sara Grissom then noted which room she was in.

Taking the stairs two by two, he quickly made it to the second floor as the building shook. He raced down the corridor banging on each of the doors until he came to the last on the right directly across from the stairwell. He stopped only long enough to catch a breath before pounding on the dark wooden door. "Sara...Sara Grissom...Sara Grissom it's the Jackpot Police Department!" he head the scuffle of feet as she came to the door, then the sound of the bolt being slid open.

"Can I help you?" she peaked through only a crack till she checked out his uniform.

"Grab what you can, we're about to be hit by a tornado lady!" he pushed the door open as she backed up. She raced into the room grabbed her purse and a jacket and he quickly latched onto her arm. They made it into the stairwell before all hell broke loose and the building was suddenly swallowed up by winds that only matched those she'd seen in the Wizard of Oz...

"Oh My God!" she screamed as Alan pulled her down and covered her body with his own, ducking down as far into the lower stairs as they could.

"Keep your head down Sara.." he screamed hoping she could make out what he was saying as the building twisted and screamed around them...

Gil was just coming over the hill when he saw the twister seemingly swallow the building he now knew contained the love of his life...slamming on the brakes...he could only sit at the top of the hill, a mile away and watch ... tears streaming down his face as he wondered if his life would ever be the same...


	9. Chapter 9

Sara had never been so scared in her life, the building literally crumbled around her, bricks were tossed like pieces of Styrofoam and rebar was twisted like bend straws sticking this way and that. She gotten hit several times on her face, arms and legs from flying pieces of debris and Alan had taken the brunt of the beating from Mother Nature because he'd held tightly to her as they huddled in the stairwell. A move that proved to have saved both of their lives. When he stood up, it was then that he noticed a nice size piece of wood about 8 inches long sticking out of his shoulder. Sara gasped at the sight and reached into her purse for something to dab at the blood.

"Are you okay?" she pushed her hair out of her eyes and shook some of the pieces of drywall and debris loose in the process as she straightened up. "By the way, thank you so much for..." she noticed the blood on her arms and realized she'd gotten a few cuts and bruises herself... "How the hell did you know I was here?...How did you know who I was?" she suddenly remembered that when he'd pounded on her door, he'd called her by her married name.

"Because your husband had me out looking for you!" he grimaced at the stinging coming from his injured shoulder and leaned heavily against the only remaining wall.

"My husband? Gil...Grissom?" he nodded... "He had you.? He's...oh shit...!" she looked around and as far as they eye could see, there was damaged building scattered everywhere there'd previously been pristine gardens, trees and even a waterfall and pond. "You don't think he got caught in this do you?" she felt her stomach twist in fear.

"Last time I talked to him, he was heading this way but...I told him I was three minutes away and he should go back to my brother's place, that's where he's been staying...he's been miserable ya know...looked like shit when he got here..I knew something was up, he said he left CSI!" it was a statement and Sara was grateful that he wasn't pushing for an answer right now. "What's the likelihood that he listened?" He wondered aloud.

"Not very...but I pray to God he did...cause from what I can see..." she dreaded finishing that statement.

"This was bad but hopefully, it missed the town, when I talked to him he was about 20 minutes out...even if he drove like a bat out of hell, he shouldn't have been close enough to ..." he helped her step over several boards and they made it out of the pit that had once been the entire stairwell. "Let's just hope he listened this time..." they walked among the ruined building and noticed an arm sticking out from under the rubble. "Oh shit..." Alan leaned down and Sara stopped in her tracks...she recognized the watch on the wrist as one that Wilber had been wearing...

"Wilber! Wilber!" she screamed as she hit her knees and began digging into the piles of wood, metal and pieces of building that had the motel owner buried. "Wilber can you hear me?" she grabbed the hand and felt for a pulse. "He's alive!" she yelled to Alan who moved in next to her and helped her move more of the debris. They got the little man unburied in record time and Sara was never so happy to see someone squinting through broken glasses.

"Mrs. Grissom is that you?" he squeaked out... "I tried to get back to the motel to warn you but the twister hit before I made it inside..." Alan pulled him gently from the last of the pile and had to stop as the pain in his arm intensified.

"Alan you need to stop, I don't know if taking that wood out is going to make it worse or not.." she pulled off the shirt she'd been wearing thanking God she'd had a tank top under it, made a makeshift sling and gently as she could wrapped it around Alan's injured arm to immobilize his shoulder. "That should help for now, sorry I don't have anything for the pain..." she looked around. "Wilber, was there anyone else staying at the motel?" she prayed not and it took him a minute to confirm her worst fears.

"There was a young couple with a child, but I think they might have gone for dinner up the road...I'm not really sure, I didn't make it round the front of the building so I couldn't tell you if any of the cars ..." he stopped and looked around, the truck Alan had been driving was gone, the Denali was across the parking lot on its side and Sara swallowed hard wondering what Ecklie would say about the destruction of company property...and there was two other vehicles that were mangled. Sara made her way over to the two buried under a pile of bricks.

"Alan...over here..." she waved, inside the car were three people, bloodied but thankfully alive, a woman, a man and a small child all cradled together. The force of the falling bricks had smashed the windshield and Sara surmised that the facial lacerations probably came from the glass that would have normally withstood any impact with the exception of a tornado...she struggled with the door and was met with the terrorized eyes of the woman holding her child who couldn't be more than two or three years old.

"Help us.." she mouthed as Sara finally got the door wedged open. "My husband, he was hit by a flying brick before he got us back in the car..." Sara noticed the man remained unconscious and when she moved into the back seat, she could see a scalp laceration where the brick had made contact. Sara hoped the injury was only superficial but was not willing to take the chance that it might be more serious so she leaned over to the woman.

"Can you hand me that blanket?" Sara had noticed a baby blanket between the woman and her husband. The woman looked blankly at her for a moment and Sara felt if she explained what she planned on doing it might calm the woman. "I'm going to keep his neck supported just in case he's more seriously injured okay? I need to use the baby blanket.." the woman nodded now and handed her the blanket. Sara quickly rolled it up tightly and then, as gently as she could, she moved it over his head, slid it under his chin then she slowly brought it together to make a collar and keep his neck stabilized. "That should help keep his airway open and make it easier to breath until and ambulance can be called." she patted the woman "How is the little one?" she noticed the baby hadn't made a peep since she'd been inside the car.

"She's okay...I was able to shield her from any damage, Dan...he's my husband, he got us here just as it it, we almost made it to the motel...I guess it's a good thing we didn't make it back...inside...we almost didn't make it in the car...but he shoved me and Emily inside and...he nearly got sucked out the door himself, then he got hit in the head, I think it was, I'm pretty sure it was a brick...or a piece of one..." she sobbed... "Is he going to be okay?" Sara smiled at her.

"He's breathing okay, his pulse feels pretty strong, the Sheriff is on the phone trying to call and ambulance I'm pretty sure" she noticed Alan on his cellphone just outside the car. "It may take awhile but I don't want you to move too much, are you hurt at all?" The woman shook her head.

"Just shaken up...where did you come from?" she looked in awe at Sara now.

"I was in the motel...the Sheriff saved my life..." she looked back at Alan who was deep in conversation with someone but what actually got her attention was something or someone moving behind him.

Gil hadn't been able to get nearer to what was left of the motel then 5 blocks but it had been the longest five blocks of his life...he'd practically ran them, between downed trees that had tripped him several times, bringing him to his knees and causing rips and tears in both his pants and his skin, the blood seeped through the material. His hands had not faired much better and were cut and scraped where he'd pulled himself up and dragged himself out of a ditch where his car had wound up after he'd nearly been run off the road by a jack knifed semi. He'd sustained a nasty cut on his forehead when his face had made contact with the steering wheel of his now totally demolished Mercedes but if you asked him if he cared, he would have told you not in the least.

The last block had been the worst, he'd seen two dead people in a car that had been overturned in a ditch, he'd stopped to see if he could be any assistance but it was apparent from the start it was too little too late for either of the elderly couple. The other accident was a mangled RV but thankfully the family had faired better than their vehicle and Gil had put in an emergency call on his cellphone, supplied their location and explained that he was on a mission to find his own wife then left them to continue on. He could see where buildings, trees and everything that had once stood was now little more than matchsticks as he neared what had once been the motel and with each step and each breath, his heart broke wondering if and what he might find.

When he'd spotted the mangled car and what was left of the Denali, he knew for a fact Sara had been in the worst part of the storm and he's had to stop for a moment as a wave a dizziness and nausea washed over him. He prayed harder now then he'd ever prayed in his life that if she'd died, she'd gone quickly and with little or no pain, if not, he would find her alive and well. He'd not expected to find her kneeling inside a bashed up car assisting people but his heart swelled at the sight of her and his breath caught in his throat when she looked up and stopped what she was doing.

She stood straight and stared at him coming up what used to be the well manicured driveway. He looked like hell but right now, she didn't care, she didn't see the ripped up jeans, the bloody patches spreading with each step, the limp in his gait, she didn't see the weariness in his face or the gray in his hair, the cut on his forehead or the tear stains on his cheeks, what she saw was the man she'd spent years chasing, loving and hoping would someday love her...who she'd walked away from not once but twice...and this time, she stepped away from the car, slowly moved around the back end then, as quickly as she could maneuver through the obstacle course of debris and then she took off in a dead run, right into his waiting arms.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N**: _ Thank you all for the wonderful reviews...it's not over yet but nowhere near as long as my ongoing story "I Don't Want The World To End"...the reception to this has been phenomenal and those that have emailed me with reviews, added me to their favorite list or story alerts. A HUGE THANK YOU! As you have probably figured, I'm a huge GSR fan and pray that with GD leaving, the show will survive, Jorja will return and our couple will last at least through a 10th year...I noticed the GSR website is now for sale and it makes me sad that people have given up the fight to keep our show going strong. I wish GD luck in his future, that he straightens himself out and gets the help he so desperately apparently needs. I hope Jorja comes home soon...and I wish all of you much love, luck and good health..._

He could barely believe it, there hadn't even been a moment's hesitation, she's spotted him, rushed around the car and now, she was in his arms, crushed against his chest and peppering every square inch of his face in fast, wet kisses.

"You're okay...oh God Gil you're okay..." she pulled back, looked him over and then planted one of the longest most sensuous kisses on him that they'd shared in a long time. "I thought...I thought I lost you..." she saw the surprised look on his face as once again she stopped kissing him. "What?" she felt his arms loosen their hold on her?

"I saw the tornado hit this area...I thought, I had to ... I couldn't imagine..." he stumbled over his words, tears streaming down his face as sobs racked his body and Sara saw the terror in his eyes. He hadn't only thought he'd lost her when she walked away the first and second time, he'd actually believed he just witnessed the final loss at the hands of Mother Nature. "I was sure..." she kissed him again.

"You aren't losing me that easily Mr. Grissom" she smiled against his mouth and felt only a slight tension. "I know, we have a lot to talk about, I was wrong when I let you walk away thinking I didn't love you...I do, more than you could even imagine, that's why I'm here..." she kissed him again and pulled him tighter to her. His arms embraced her like there was no tomorrow.

"How did you know?" he seemed genuinely puzzled.

"Greg, he'd put a GPS tracking device on your Mercedes..." she looked around behind him but couldn't see his car anywhere."Gil? Where's your car?" she slipped from his arms and finally took in his disheveled appearance.

"In a ditch...where's the Denali?" he looked around the parking lot and saw the large SUV laying on its side "Never mind" he started to chuckle which changed into a huge belly laugh, the likes of which neither he nor Sara had shared in awhile, she quickly joined in, both imagining what Ecklie would say if he could see it now. "Guess we both need to work on our parking skills" he held her tightly to him and relished in the feeling. "Remind me to thank Greg" he kissed the side of her head and saw her smile, the one that went all the way to her eyes. "I've missed you...Sara...I really have" she turned slowly in his arms and put her hands on the sides of his face.

"You'll never have to miss me again...that is, if you still want Me." she blushed lightly, afraid of this moment.

"I never stopped..." the look of utter honesty took her breath away."When you...when I..." she silenced him with a kiss.

"It should have never come to that...I should have never made you come to me like that and I'm sorry...I'm so sorry for that Gil, honestly, I can never..." it was his turn to silence her and the kiss would have continued had it not been for the coughing sound coming from behind them.

"Excuse me...um..." Alan shifted from one foot to the other "Sorry to break up this reunion but I think we need to get these people some medical help, I'd like to get back to town and see how that fared and I do believe..." he looked around "That both of you are going to need a ride?" Gil laughed and Sara nodded. "Leland's place?" Again Gil nodded leaving Sara to wonder where that was exactly.

"You'll see" He winked at her then felt the immediate loss as she slipped from his arms. She moved over to assist with the couple she'd been in the car with and Alan was busy on the phone making transportation arrangements for the injured.

"We'll have to see what hasn't been damaged, people in town...if it's still standing won't mind putting them up till they can get on the road again. Alan informed Gil as they helped move debris. "We'll make it easier for the ambulance to get to that young man, he just started to come to, that girl of yours, and she's pretty amazing." he saw Gil look up at Sara.

"Yeah...she is..." he picked up boards and tossed them onto a pile while Alan moved bricks and metal to another stack.

"If she was mine..." he let the implication hang in the air but it was enough said between the two men as they worked side by side so that Alan would be able to direct the ambulance up the drive when it arrived.

Thirty minutes later the man was loaded up with his wife and children, another ambulance took Wilber with them and had finally persuaded Alan to go with as well after they assured him they'd make sure Gil and Sara had a ride back to where they needed to be. That left the two of them standing in the littered driveway with nothing more to do then talk. Sara figured there was little likelihood that she'd find any of her personal stuff that had been in her room when all this started, and then she remembered that with the exception of her purse, a book that had been tucked in the purse, everything else had been left in the Denali in her haste to get in from the storm. She walked to the flipped over vehicle and realized she didn't have her keys but Gil, apparently realizing she must need something from the inside picked up a board, walked to the side and finished demolishing what Mother Nature had started, taking care to make sure than there were not small shards of glass she could injure herself on. He was going to crawl inside when she stopped him.

"Not on those knees you're not!" she pointed to the caked on blood of his jeans. "Besides, I'm smaller than you" she pointed out and got a snicker.

"We're almost the same height!" he wasn't going to go down without a persuasive argument.

"We're NOT the same body mass!" She countered rather cheekily.

"Always the Physics Major aren't you?" he teased lightly...She turned, pointed to her ass and then her lips...Gil moved faster than she assumed he would, as she bent to lower herself down and draw through the window, he'd grabbed her and quickly sank his teeth into her tush.

"Son of a bitch!" she jumped up rubbing the spot where he'd bitten her then cracked up laughing at the almost 'innocent' look he was trying to give her...

"You shouldn't put it out there...the offer that is if you're only going to try to tempt me Miss Sidle!" he saw her turn fully toward him and stalk the two feet he'd put between them. Reaching quickly forward, she grabbed him by his belt buckle, quickly gave him a fast rub through his jeans and smiled evilly.

"It's Mrs. Grissom to you buddy...and I don't tempt..." he pulled her flush against him, ran a hand up the back of her shoulders where it landed on the back of her had and drew her mouth to his where his lips engulfed hers once more.

"Welcome home Mrs. Grissom..." he smiled against her mouth then resumed kissing her. They would have continued but a squad car pulled up beside them.

"Got a call from Sheriff Brooks, said you might need a ride up to Leland's place?" the young man leaned out the window and smiled at the couple. Gil nodded quickly and they went around to the passenger side of the car where Gil offered to let Sara sit in the front see, she declined knowing it would be easier on his knees getting in and out if he sat up front.

"I'm okay back here…." She kissed him once more then slid into the seat as he held the door open. Gil closed it quickly then got in the front.

"How much of the town was damaged?" he hoped the deputy could waylay his fears.

"Surprisingly, a couple trees were uprooted, a few roofs will need some new shingles, the café is gonna need a new sign but all in all, it came away pretty good considering. Weather reports said it was an F3 twister that came through but this area was hit the worst. By the way, Alan, Sheriff Brooks said they took the chunk of wood out of his shoulder, took 10 stitches but he's going to be okay, wanted to make sure the both of you were alright." He looked over and noticed the blood on Gil's jeans. "What about you Mr. Grissom?" He motioned to Gil's legs…"Looks like your knees might have taken a beating…." Gil was going to brush it of but he turned over his hands and they too looked ripped and ragged.

"Looks like my hands as well" he signed.

"Maybe I should just run you up to the local; they could clean you up and dress them proper?" Gil was going to dismiss the idea when Sara leaned over the front seat took one look at the deep laceration in the palm of his hand and said "I think that would be an excellent idea!" Gil frowned and looked over his shoulder at her and noticed that she had a cut along her cheek at the same time she noticed the gash from the steering wheel. "And we can get that fixed as well" she nearly touched it but he backed away from her probing finger.

"And we can get this one" he touched her cheek just below the cut "fixed as well, though I'm thinking they'll choose to bridge instead of stitch it…you'll probably need a tetanus shot to be on the safe side. Sara looked at him like he was insane but then snickered. "I know you hate hospitals Dear" he blew her a kiss "but we can't have an infection going to that lovely brain of yours now can we?" She sat back and glared at his head and then secretly chuckled to herself. She was thrilled that he had obviously forgiven her but she knew, they still had some things to talk about, such as the fact that she had returned to CSI and what the future held for his own career….


	11. Chapter 11

The rest of the ride to the hospital was spent with Gil talking to the Deputy about the people in town. He'd caught up on some of the latest gossip and it took Sara by surprise at the ease in which Grissom seemed to converse with the younger man. She glanced out the window from time to time taking in the local scenery, catching glimpses of store fronts, the mentioned uprooted trees that had been mentioned earlier, a few broken windows sustained from either the extremely high winds or flying debris.

"Did you fall asleep back there Sara?" Gil teased her gently and saw her smile over his shoulder.

"No, just getting a look around." She answered softly wondering what it was about this town that had drawn Gil to it when he'd left everything behind. Perhaps when they were back wherever he was staying, she would ask him about it. She reminded herself to call Ecklie and Catherine then realized that her cell phone and purse had been back at the motel room when she'd made her quick get away. "Shit!" she let out a hiss and Gil immediately turned around.

"Honey, what's wrong?" his genuine concern touched her heart.

"I didn't call Catherine … or … Ecklie, neither of them know that I'm okay" she wiped a tear away. "Everything…my cell phone, my Id's, my drivers license, even pictures of us, they were in my purse in my room when the storm hit…." She looked like she was about to cry. He didn't realize that while she could no doubt replace the other items, the pictures she had dated all the way back to their time in San Francisco and she doubted he kept any copies.

"We can always go back and look for it." He looked at the Deputy for confirmation and thankfully the young man agreed.

"I'm not that far from …" But Sara shook her head.

"I doubt we'd find it with the winds that whipped up like they did, there's barely nothing left of the building and I'd have no clue where to start" she stated flatly. Something about her demeanor made both men want to try. "Besides, I'd rather have those cuts attended to on your hands, that one looks pretty nasty Gil" she sat back figuring that sometimes, you had to let go of material things and put the most important in perspective. The Deputy silently made up his mind that when he dropped them off, he would go back and at least make an attempt. Gil Grissom had helped them with a crime a few years back, it was now known that Alan had risked his life for the woman in the back seat that had been identified as Dr. Grissom's wife so he felt it might be a notch on his belt if he himself helped out where he could. Figuring if he made not mention and failed, it was none the worse for the attempt.

They pulled up to the hospital and both Gil and Sara thanked him.

"I'll be back in a little while to pick you up, or you can call Jamie Lynne at the station, she'll be able to get hold of me pretty easily. My guess is you'll probably have a bit of a wait with everything that happened. They nodded and with Gil's arm wrapped tightly around her waist, they walked up the drive and into the front doors of the hospital where they were met by a nurse who looked like an older version of the young girl Heather who had tried to cook his fish for him.

"You must be Dr. Grissom?" she looked from him to the young "My daughter talked so much about you …she said she thought you were so adorable sleeping out there in that boat while you was fishing…" she winked but gave Sara a contemptible look and Gil was instantly non to happy about it. "She was a bit disappointed you didn't let her cook you up some of them fish while you showered and caught yourself a nap, she said you looked kinda tired…." She's a really good cook if ya know what I mean Honey." she clicked her tongue and winked at Grissom.

"This here is my wife, Sara Grissom, she was injured when the twister hit the motel up the road…I'd like her to be seen for her injuries please!" his voice was short and clipped, it was easily bordering on rude and Sara had to laugh as she snuggled closer to him. "I was up at Leland's waiting for her, we decided to get away from our busy lives and take some time to enjoy our belated honeymoon" he kissed her cheek which for Gil was huge considering how often times he hesitated at open public displays of affection. "Just took her a couple days to tie up some loose ends and everything." He figured she might wonder what Sara was doing alone at a motel and from the look of things; his guess was on the money by the way her mouth snapped shut. "Besides, as nice as her offer was, I really only like my wife's cooking….as far as home cooked meals go but be sure to thank her again for me if you would?" he turned and directed Sara to a bank of seats to await their turn.

Sara leaned against him and kissed his cheek but not before whispering in his ear. "You gonna tell me about her daughter?" she teased and Gil shook his head.

"Not much to tell, she was looking, I was not….I have what I want, I have everything I need right here" he kissed her squarely on the mouth and it took her breath away. It also was funny to her that the woman kept casting glances in their directions and trying hard not to get caught, each time she did, Gil would snuggle or kiss her, whisper in her ear telling her how much he missed her and how he'd been a coward.

"I couldn't even face the team Sara, I wrote an email and I'm sure Ecklie's already interviewing my replacement as we speak" Sara shook her head and Gil looked at her in a rather confused manner.

"I went back, I….I talked to Jim and I went back home…." She saw him bow his head and blush. "Yeah, I saw the empty house and we'll talk later about you giving away your son!" she pushed against him in a teasing manner "Who by the way is back home along with all of our furniture!" she smiled "Anyway, Ecklie offered me my job back and he told Catherine that he wasn't accepting your letter of resignation in any way shape or form until he's absolutely sure he's gone over and above to convince you otherwise…" she got it all out in one breath "Which is how I was driving your Denali and managed to total it.." she bit her bottom lip.

"That was MY Denali? Oh this is priceless" he cracked up laughing and the woman cast them a dirty look as he slumped further in the chair. "We just got two brand new ones; they were issued to Supervisors only."

"Well I guess Catherine's gonna have to give hers up for the time being then isn't she?" Sara continued to chuckle. "You are going back right?" she knew they had much to discuss but that was tops on the list. It was certainly going to be the first thing on the agenda when she finally contacted Conrad.

"I don't know if I can Sara, I mean…" he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "I walked away without even saying goodbye, I …" he looked at her and realized, if he considered himself a coward for leaving his goodbye on a letter, what did he think of Sara? And he swallowed hard "I'm the supervisor Sara, what could they possibly think of me now, I'm sure I've lost all of their respect because I" he didn't even know how to finish the statement without making a direct comparison to her.

"I told them what I did to you" she smiled at him taking his hand in hers. "All of it, how I originally left, how you came to San Fran to see if I was coming back and how I let you walk away" she saw a look of terror in his eyes. "I skipped _that _part" she would never tell them how he'd laid bare his very soul to her and how she'd treated him for doing so. He relaxed to her touch and covered her hand with his other.

"Thank you…but you didn't …" she leaned in and kissed him.

"I did…I didn't have to treat you the way I did, we'll talk about that when we're alone" she sucked in his bottom lip and ran her tongue along the soft smooth skin. "But I wasn't about to have the team blaming you for what I needed to do….." She was about to say more when they called her name. Gil hesitated wondering if she wanted him to go with her but the pull of his hand by her quickly answered any doubt.

The were brought to a curtained area and the nurse quickly apologized because she didn't have a room for them. "I'm really sorry but with all the injuries from the tornado, we're doing triage here and then moving the victims when space becomes available" she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around Sara's upper arm and shoved a thermometer in her mouth before she could protest then jotted down the information as she collected it. She then asked for height and weight and when Sara shrugged on the weight, asked her to step on the scale explaining that it was hospital policy.

Gil was enjoying this until another nurse turned up, noticed the laceration on his head and started a chart on him.

"Name?"

"Oh...um...no, we're just here for my wife...Sara...Sara Grissom"

"Name?" she held up the pen and tapped it against the paper on the clipboard.

"Gil Grissom" he rolled his eyes. "But honestly, I'm fine, we're here for my wi.." he didn't get to finish as a second thermometer made an appearance and was shoved in his mouth and a blood pressure cuff wrapped around his arm. She smiled at Sara who had been weighed and triaged and was now seated on the exam table swinging a nervous leg.

"BP is 120 over " she jotted it down, yanked the thermometer from his mouth "Temps normal, how tall are you and what do you weigh?" she picked up the pen and motioned to the scale where Sara had just been put through her own inquisition.

"I'm 5 foot 11 and 190 lbs" he muttered but she wasn't taking his word on the weight and adjusted the scale.

"Right on the height, wrong on the weight!" she pushed the slide until the balance stopped moving. "170lbs and my scale is very accurate!" she took great pleasure in stating that and Sara snickered behind her back. The first nurse caught her and giggled and Sara liked her immediately. Gil looked at Sara who caught his eyes and realized for the first time that he had indeed lost weight., not in the healthy happy way she would have approved of but it was apparent that over the course of her leaving, Gil had not been taking care of himself. She added that to a list of things they were going to discuss and she would easily take the blame for it knowing how she'd left him the last time.

She berated herself for having been so wrapped up in herself that she had not noticed the difference when he stood naked before her and she vowed that she was going to do any and everything to make it all up to him. Most of her ghosts were buried, those that remained would just have to live in the past but as far as Sara was concerned, she was not going back, she was moving forward and she planned to do so with Gilbert Grissom at her side.

Gil wondered what was going on with his wife, she'd been suddenly quiet though he'd caught her from time to time staring at him thought apparently a million miles away.

"What are you thinking?" he finally couldn't take it anymore. Sara turned to him like a deer in the headlights and looked at him with wide brown eyes. "You're a million miles away...what's going on?" he whispered.

"When was the last time you ate?" she looked at him, waiting for him to lie to her.

"I was going to have fish today, but when the weather turned, I couldn't think of eating when I found out you were out there .. in this...in that weather...I'll eat later, I'm really not hungry.." he honestly wasn't and hadn't been lately. He'd lost his appetite when she'd left the first time, tried to keep himself healthy for awhile but this last time had been his undoing and...truth be told, he couldn't remember, other than the breakfast the other morning, when he'd bothered to have anything more than something fast and probably less than nutritious.

"You're eating as soon as we get out of here, if I have to make you dinner myself!" she swung her leg and tapped her finger on the table top. Not wanting to upset her but doubting that Sara would want to process fish, he simply nodded. The doctor came in and assessed her cuts, just like he thought they cleaned up her cheek and bridged the edges together explaining she wouldn't want a scar from stitches, she nodded in agreement but really didn't care that much at this point.

When they finished with her, he turned to Gil and went over his injuries, the gash in his face caused him to flinch as they debrided it removing any dirt that might have collected after he left the vehicle. The laceration in his hand required 7 stitches and at first the doctor hesitated to stitch lest he close in an infection but when he saw the depth of the cut and pulled out a shard of glass, he decided to freshen the wound edges after giving him several shots of Lidocaine to numb the area then flushed it with a betadine mixture explaining the hydrogen peroxide was often used but could start to destroy the tissue edges and he wanted them to be nice and neat when he stitched them.

Calling in a Plastic Surgeon for a consult, they agreed that stitching was the better method and the man immediately set about doing the job. Sara was relieved to have someone doing the job that had experience considering that Gil's job required him to use his hands extensively...and she hoped that when they finally had the chance to talk, Gil would decide to return to Las Vegas, back to the crime lab.


	12. Chapter 12

The young Deputy, upon dropping both Gil and Sara at the hospital, had returned to the area where the motel used to stand. The debris field was rather extensive and he figured he would have to use a marker system to gauge where he had been and where he would look next so he started in the point where Alan had said they'd been hiding in the area of the stairwell but had no luck, he figured that Sara must have been in the room across the hall and quickly confirmed it with Alan.

"What are you doing back there Jeff?" Brooks's voice boomed over the radio.

"Mrs. Grissom lost her purse, it had all her stuff in it, and she was really upset so I'm guessing it had some sentimental value as well so I figured I wouldn't say anything but I'd give it a shot at finding it." He walked another 50 feet and noticed a black leather strap hanging off a branch on a tree. "I think I might have just gotten incredibly lucky." He looked around trying to figure out how to reach it as the purse. His best course of action at the moment would have to be pulling his SUV as close as he could and climbing up on the roof then trying to reach it from there. It took a good 20 minutes but he was finally able to get the branch it was hooked on to bend and the purse dropped into his waiting hand.

"Yup, gotcha you little sucker…" he held it tightly as he reversed his climb onto the vehicle. Just as he crawled back into the Yukon, the crackle of the radio let him know Jamie Lynn was calling him.

"Hey Jeff, Grissom called, they're ready to head out to Leland's place but Alan wants to see if you can talk them into coming back to town for dinner, they probably haven't had a bite to eat…" she had a thing for Jeff and he for her but they were both to shy to admit it to themselves or each other.

"I'll ask them, should take me about 20 to get to the hospital, could you let them know?" He heard her chuckle through the radio.

"Will do, bring me one of Gloria's doughnuts if you get a chance." She wondered if he would but didn't hold out much hope, Jeff McManus wasn't always the brightest bulb when it came to the romance department but as long as Jamie Lynn had been working with the local police department, he'd held her heart and she was only too eager to give it to him if the opportunity arose.

They were standing outside the hospital, Sara leaning into Gil's side and while they weren't really talking, their body language said it all; this was a couple that was deeply in love. Jeff wished with all his heart that he had the guts to tell Jamie Lynn how he felt about her and if he had the courage, would ask Grissom when he realized that he felt the same about Sara…but that would mean getting him off by himself and he wondered if the chance would come up for that. He sure hoped because he was pretty sure Jamie was who he wanted to spend his life with.

Gil opened the door for Sara but she shook her head and insisted on sitting once again in the back seat, "I told you before it's easier on your knees to sit in the front. The Deputy waited till they were both in the car then turned to Sara, "Does this look familiar?" he held up her purse and if Sara could have reached him, she just might have kissed him when she noticed her purse hanging from his hand. "It took a bit of digging..then I found it hanging in a tree, I guess that will teach me to look up first" he chuckled. Gil suddenly noticed the soiled uniform that had been neatly pressed earlier. "But it was worth it…I think everything is in there, I didn't look, Jamie Lynne told me don't never look in a woman's purse so I wasn't about to but it's still zipped so I don't imagine anything flew out and it's heavy so I'm guessing your wallet stayed put…" Sara laughed as she dug through everything. Thankfully because it was good quality leather with a nice liner as was her wallet, the pictures inside had been protected and remained intact. She sat back taking in their day.

She'd survived a tornado because Gil had sent someone to find her, she had her purse, she had her husband back thought she knew that when the returned to where he was staying they definitely needed to talk. She was content in her decision to return to her job but she would only do so if he agreed to return to his as well. They were a team and it was because of him that she'd originally come to Vegas and it was because of him she stayed…now she wanted to make sure, they were going to be okay…the rest they'd work out together. Life for the moment was good and she intended to make this moment last…..


	13. Chapter 13

The drive to Leland's place was spent with Sara deep in thought, Gil and the Deputy discussing the town and what the future would hold.

"Thankfully the buildings only sustained minor damages but, the motel is a total loss, it'll be up to Wilber if he wants to rebuild, if he does the town will do what it always does, they'll pitch in where they can financially, those of us that construction skills will lend a hand it before you know it, we'll have another motel standing where the old one was." He turned into the drive leading up to the house and noticed that Sara seemed to have dozed off.

"I think the tornado did her in" the Deputy stated the obvious and Gil just laughed and nodded in agreement, Sara had certainly been put through the ringer in her attempt to find him. When the car slowed in front of the house, Gil slipped out of his door, gently opened the back door and picked Sara up in his arms, it was then he noticed she seemed to weigh even less then normal. He knew that was something they'd need to address, Sara hadn't been eating well before she left and now it was apparent that while she might have vanquished some of her demons, it was quite possible she might not be here to stay and the thought tore at his heart.

As he shifted her slightly, her arms came around his neck, she snuggled into his chest and signed "Never again…I can't lose you again…" she was still asleep but mumbling and Gil wondered what she was dreaming about. There was so much he needed to say to her, so much he wanted to ask but for now, he knew they both needed rest and he wasn't about to wake her up to satisfy his own curiosity. The Deputy opened the screen door and the inside one as well and when he realized that Gil had everything under control, bid him goodbye.

"Thanks, I'm just gonna put her to bed, I'll be back in a minute…" he slipped into the bedroom and gently laid her down on what would normally have been her side of the bed, it was a habit he'd gotten into, only sleeping on his side and even when she was gone, he hadn't been able to move to the middle or her side. She was so much a part of him now. As he turned to leave he felt her catch his wrist in her slender hand.

"Please…Gil, stay…" her eyes took on a muzzy appearance as she blinked through half closed lids. "Please…I need you….I need us…" she whispered. Gil leaned back and kissed her.

"Just let me say goodbye to our friend…I'll be back in a few." He slipped away and closed the bedroom door behind him.

"You look like you could use a good nap yourself Grissom" the younger man was looking around the home as Gil stepped into the kitchen to get a drink.

"I feel like I've been steamrolled to be honest with you, thanks for everything you've done, finding her purse sure made her happy…" the Deputy nodded in agreement. "We'll have to have you up for some fresh fish…maybe in the next day or so?" he waited to see what the younger man would say. The beaming smile was all he needed to know his dinner invitation had been well received.

"Hell yeah….I mean, yes, thank you" he rolled the brim of his hat suddenly nervous. "I'd be honored; Leland's pond has some of the best fish in these parts…" he grinned from ear to ear. "But I better get my butt in gear or Brooks will be reaming me a new one about wasting time…I'll see you tomorrow night then.." he plopped the hat on his head, nodded then slipped out the door closing it behind him. Gil looked around then locked the door, slipped off his shoes. Silently he made his way back to the bedroom and found Sara asleep, curled around his pillow. He picked up his book and made his way to the chair in the corner, intent on not waking her up but the minute he sat down she opened her eyes.

"Don't you want to sleep with me?" She smiled softly and slipped the arm that had been under the pillow, out in his direction. Gil looked at her and smiled. "Just sleep…for now" she assured him knowing that before anything else happened, she had some things she needed to explain to him. Gil nodded then slowly stood up slowly removing his shirt. When he pulled his tee shirt over his head, Sara sat up and took in the sight before her.

"You've lost weight Gil!" she didn't sound happy. '

"A little" he brushed it off as he stripped his jeans off and then his socks.

"No, it's more than a little, God Gil, I can see your ribs, you haven't been taking care of yourself" she sat up against the headboard and raked a worried hand through her hair. "When's the last time you ate..I mean REALLY ate..as in a full healthy meal?"

"I had breakfast with Alan…the Sheriff…I was going to make some fish when the weather took a turn for the worst…" he sat on the edge of the bed, "Speaking of weight, I also noticed you seemed to have lost a few pounds yourself my dear…" he hadn't planned on bringing it up but now was as good a time as any, it had to be done.

"I've been eating if that's what you're asking" she looked up through her lashes "Well, I was until…" she let it hang in the air. Gil nodded. "I want you to know, I never meant to put you in a position to have to do that. To come to me like you did and" the memory brought tears to her eyes "Gil I'm so sorry for what I put you…what I put us through, I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am" she leaned toward him and took his hand. "I needed to bury the ghosts of my past and I had to do it alone."

"Did you?" He fiddled with her fingers.

"Bury my ghosts or need to do it alone?" she knew he had questions and she also realized that it was high time he had the answers he needed.

"Both I guess" he looked nervous and swallowed twice.

"Both, I needed to do both, I buried a lot of them, those that I didn't will have to live in the past" she tried to smile as a reassurance but he stiffened. "And to answer the second part, yes I did need to face them alone, it was the only way I could do it and come back to you whole."

"What if they come back?" the fear of her leaving again was ever present now.

"Then this time" she brought his hand to her lips and pressed the back to her mouth "We'll have to slay them together because I can't do it again...I can't do it alone…I didn't want you to see me self destruct but in doing it the way I did, leaving you with only a letter and …. Well, I was wrong, and I almost destroyed you in the process, I almost destroyed us, I haven't have I?" she realized now she'd simply taken it for granted that when all was said and done, he'd just take her back and that would be the end of it.

"No Sara, you haven't destroyed us" he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and drew her against his side. "But in the future, if something is wrong, we can't shrug it off with a simple answer of 'I'm fine' we both know that neither of us were fine, I was so wrapped up in solving the Miniature Killer mystery I lost sight of what was in front of me, I lost sight of the importance of leaving my job at work. I brought it home and every night, when you needed me, I was busy putting together my own models, trying to delve into his or, mind and as we found out…she was one step ahead of us, me….and it almost cost me you" he kissed her forehead.

"I saw my Mom, it was….interesting" she snickered and Gil waited patiently while for her to continue. "I asked her why she killed him and we went over the life they led….apparently while my Father wanted my Brother, he didn't want another child and when my Mother got pregnant with me…like it was some mystery how that happened" she let out a chuckle but he knew it was a sarcastic reaction. "Anyway, that's when the abuse started, it started with verbal abuse then got physical the further along in her pregnancy she got, he even turned on my Brother eventually." He saw tears and reached for a tissue handing her the box instead.

"After I was born, he started staying away for weeks on end and it was the only break Mom got from him, but when he came home, it would escalate to the point where she could have had her own wing in the hospital, each time he told her if she reported it, he take us away from her saying she was an unfit Mother and he'd put us in the system and she'd lose us for good…surprise, surprise like that didn't finally happen.

I got older and when I was…..developing…" it got harder to tell the story now. "Apparently, my Father made some comment about my Mother being a fat, lazy cow that he was ready to put out to pasture and replace with his new 'heifer' which apparently was me…" she looked at Gil and saw she has his rapt attention.

I came home from school one day, he was drunk, Mom was working her part time job at the local diner, it was how we ate, she brought home anything that wasn't finished that day. Soups, Salads…we never knew what we were getting, could be all the left over macaroni and cheese, oatmeal…" she remembered that there was always food thanks to her Mom but it wasn't good food, often times it was reheated for several days but she learned quickly not to complain, once had been enough and it had cost her Mother a beating because she gave birth to such an ungrateful bitch as her Father hadn't hesitated to point out.

Gil took it all in and realized they both shared an abusive childhood and both at the hands of their Fathers.

When she was finished, he had every intention of telling her that so she would finally realize, she wasn't alone in that aspect.

Dad was sitting in his recliner, it was this rust colored, stained over stuffed, lopsided chair that only he sat in, like anyone else would want to" it explained her aversion to stains now. "So I come in to make lunch and I was reheating some pasta noodles and spilled the water all over my tee shirt, Dad comes in and starts making some pretty obscene comments about my chest…and cops a feel, he had me pinned against the fridge and was trying to pull my panties off when Mom came in, that's when she killed him Gil, that's when she finally had enough she pulled a knife and killed him, I only remembered her killing him Gil, that's all, I blanked out….I blamed her for all these…I've hated her most of my life…." She sobbed against him as he rocked her and listened.

"Sara, I told you before the mind has its filters, you were a child who should have never had to live like you did…but you weren't the only one to suffer abuse at the hands of their father" he waited to see if it would register. Sara slowly looked up at him her tear stained eyes and wet lashes blinking slowly.

"You?" she whispered in disbelief "You were abused?" he nodded and slowly slipped from his seat beside her and then slid the tee shirt he'd been wearing over his head.

"The scars on my back are from his leather shaving strop, when my Mom lost her hearing and she and I learned to communicate with sign language, it pissed him off. He wasn't home much to begin with; he was a botanist and traveled around the world. He took my Mother's deafness as a personal affront to him and he never let her forget that she was damaged goods in his eyes when it became apparent that it was hereditary and I stood a good chance of losing my own hearing….anyway, he went after my Mom one day and I got in the way…my Mom told him to leave and not come back if he couldn't get his life straightened out. When I was seven he came back, they seemed to get along better because Mom wouldn't put up with his shit, one day, he came home, laid down on the sofa and didn't wake up, Mom came in with cold drinks and couldn't wake him but no one would tell me why…."

She saw the beginnings of tears and realized that even though he'd suffered at the hands of this man, he still loved his Father for the good times.

"She loved him Sara, even after everything he put her through, she still loved him, I didn't understand it at first…"

"And now you do?" She watched every nuance of his features to see how he reacted to her questions and all she told him.

"I do…look at us, you survived" he swallowed at the word, "You made it through all that Natalie dished out and came out the other side stronger than before and Sara, I always thought you were the strongest woman I ever knew. You remember that case with the buried Russian women?"

"How could I forget" she brushed her hand along his jaw line, "It's when I realized that you really did care even though….." she didn't need to say more, they'd been down this road before and it had been well traveled. "When you reached out and took my hand, I knew" he smiled at her, that goofy lopsided grin that was reserved for only her.

"Yeah? What did you know?" he rubbed his nose against hers as he moved closer.

"I knew that I loved you and that someday you'd realize you needed me in your life" she kissed him, from the tip of his nose to his lips and back. He smiled with each wet smack. "When did you know you loved me?" she pulled back and watched the ocean blue eyes before her.

"When you walked into my classroom late, with your hair in a pony tail, took the front row, crossed your ankles and pulled out your spiral notebook and dropped everything in your purse all over the ground!" he laughed as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Yeah?" She mimicked his earlier question and kissed him soundly.

"Are you back to stay Sara?" he had a sudden sadness about him and she felt the need to waylay any worried he might have by nodding.

"You can't get rid of me that easily Gilbert Grissom" she pulled her leg up and wrapped it around his hip drawing him closer. "Yes, I'm back, here, in your arms, in your home."

"OUR home Sara, it's not my home, when you weren't there, it was only a house…there was no life, no light in that house, in my life…" she cocked an eyebrow.

"And you gave away our son!" she was teasing but she knew it had to be touched upon. "Why?" he didn't release her like she feared he might and it was then she realized that they could do this, they could discuss the things they hadn't for two years or long and get them out of the way."

"I wasn't a fit parent without you is my only excuse, at first I worked doubles and then triples because it was easier to find an excuse NOT to go home then to go and sit around waiting for you to call, I knew I wasn't being fair to Hank so I did the only thing I could think of, I set him free to have a life with someone that could appreciate him, I was in a dark place without you. Sara you're the only light my life has had for many years, when you went away" he laid his head on her breast "it went away and I was afraid it would never come back, I pulled away from everyone, Jim, Al…the entire team." He blew a gentle breath across the nearest nipple and watched it pucker.

"Stop" she softly warned knowing they had more to talk about. She laughed at his attempt to offer up a serious pout.

"But I wanna play…" he whined which was totally out of character for him and had her giggling even harder. Then he did it again followed it up by quickly rolling into her and taking the nipple between his teeth.

"Gilbert….ugh………..Grissom…..oh God..." she couldn't stop herself from arching toward his mouth as his tongue laved against the pebbled skin. "I've missed this…" she felt like her skin was on fire as he covered the pink bud with his lips and suckled harder while gently alternating with his lips and teeth while teasing the other peak with his fingers. "You know…" she breathed harder "You can make me…. Cum…just from….from….oh God!" she arched her body as her climax overtook her. He didn't let up until she'd ridden the last wave and then he moved lower taking his time to kiss and caress each inch of her warmed, sweaty skin.


	14. Chapter 14

Sara laid there in the afterglow, totally sated with a very happy Gil curled against her side, snoring away…She had picked up the book he'd brought with him and just as quickly, she put it down to watch the man she loved laying there sleeping. She took in the lines that hadn't been there before and choked back regret that she was responsible for putting them there, she was totally unaware of the stress he'd been under with Warrick because he felt she had enough to deal with and hadn't mentioned it.

His hair was a bit grayer but she didn't mind, she meant it when she'd once told Hodges she thought gray hair was sexy, she could clearly remember how quickly Gil's head had turned in her direction. She'd had to cover the smirk she felt when she noticed that he had indeed reacted to her comment.

"Sara?" he mumbled and at first she thought he was awake as she snuggled more tightly to her. "Please don't leave me….please…I'm sorry I didn't stay I love you enough" he muttered against her flushed skin and it took a moment for her to realize he was still asleep. "I love you…I've always loved you. I'm just stupid…I've always been stupid with you…I made you leave" he sobbed and Sara wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his hair.

"I'm right here honey and I know you love me, you've never been stupid" she kissed his head. "I'm sorry I made you worry sweetheart." She kissed him again "I know I should have talked to you before I left…" she felt him start to relax against her and before long his breath evened out again. Sara wondered how many nights he lay awake wondering if she loved him, if she was coming back and believing he was the reason…..

An hour later, Gil slowly opened his eyes and tightened his hold on the warm body he was spooned against. He heard her contended sigh and smiled against the back of her neck. It was still light out and Gil knew that they needed to eat soon, both having skipped a few meals in the last hours. As gentle as he could he started to roll off the bed and pull his arm out from around her body when she stopped him.

"Where you going?" she turned over and blinked till her eyes adjusted to the dim light around her.

"I was thinking of putting some weight on our bodies my Dear" he leaned over and kissed her. "I have some salad downstairs and I was going to grill some of the fish I caught earlier…" he pulled his shorts on and stood straight cracking his back. His muscles ached but definitely in a good way and he saw her smile. "What's so funny?" he watched as she slid up into a sitting position with only the sheet wrapped around her making her look like a goddess to him.

"That woman at the hospital wanted you for her daughter" She batted her eyes. "She wanted you bad, what was she like…?" Sara rolled over and the sheet slipped down just over her butt. "Do tell my darling, did the little vixen have the hots for my man?" Gil rolled his eyes.

"She wanted to cook my fish!" he moved to bag where his other tee shirts were and heard her softly laughing.

"I'm sure she wanted to do more than cook your fish buddy." He turned and she was lying on the bed, on her back, head hanging slightly off the edge, sheet barely covering her body and her legs twisted invitingly. He got hard just from the sight of her laying there just for him.

"You're enjoying this aren't you?" He ran a finger just under her chin and watched her flesh flush with goose bumps at his touch. She slid closer toward him, until her head was even with his straining erection.

"No…" she reached up and cupped his balls fingering them gently before she licked the drop of precum off the tip of his cock. "But I am going to enjoy this!" she suddenly reached around him with her arms, grabbed him just behind his thighs, pulled him forward and took his entire length, which was substantial into her mouth and down her throat working the muscles that milked the silky soft skin. His hips involuntarily thrust forward but Sara had been prepared for this and moved off him only enough not to choke.

"God Sara…." He'd missed this, the way she could take him in and make him want more, the way she didn't hesitate like others had or refuse altogether. She took as well as she gave and she had him near orgasm before he realized it, trying desperately to pull away because he still had a hard time believe a woman thought the taste of was wonderful he felt her tighten her hold on him and gently shake her head. Eyes wide open, she watched his face as he started to close his eyes, and she increased the pressure on him and tapped him with her fingernail. He watched her suck him off while she placed a finger between her folds and quickly circled her clit moaning with pleasure from the stimulation at both ends.

"Oben ur edes Giw" she wanted to watch him watching her. He felt the tightening in his balls and then the tingle run from his spine up his belly as he came and she quickly swallowed each spurt savoring the warm salty taste of him and tears sprang from her eyes as she realized how much it took for him to even allow her to do this. Gil wasn't one that often lost control, relinquishing it to her was a major thing for him and tonight he did just that doing as she said by opening his eyes and watching her. She smiled around his warm flesh as she drained the last of his juices and then licked him completely clean before turning over, swallowing him one more time till her nose was flush against his pubic hair and she felt him convulse one more time as she herself came just from pleasuring him and herself at the same time. He collapsed on the bed the minute she released his flaccid flesh from the heated cavern of her mouth. "Oh God, I've died and gone to Heaven….I can die a happy man now." He sighed.

Sara sat up, and rolled off the bed. "Well I'm hungry now, I need a shower and something to eat." He looked at her and then dropped his head on the pillows too boneless to move at the moment. "And I'm going to have to figure out where to get some clothes because I'm pretty sure those are hanging in a tree somewhere in the next town." He leaned over him and planted a deep sensuous kiss on his lips.

Gil heard the shower start but still could not work up the energy to move. He knew now that his entire being was totally wrapped up with the beautiful woman in the next room. She was as much a part of him as he of her and it was only when they were together that he felt whole. It still bothered him how long it had taken for him to finally let her in but now that he had and he'd experienced life both with and without her…after having had her, he would never again be able to live without her; he knew it, accepted it and smiled to himself finally knowing that Sara was right with what she had known all along he did need her in his life.

Sara hummed in the shower as she picked up the familiar loofah and the bottle of liquid shower gel that she quickly recognized as her brand. It saddened her that Gil had changed to hers to keep her close and she wondered how many times he'd stood in the shower, eyes closed just pretending she was there with him. She made a promise then and there that come what may, she would never willingly leave him again. She leisurely showered then shaved her legs with the razor she knew he kept tucked in his shaving kit then washed and conditioned her hair deciding today to let it remain curly.

Stepping out of the shower, she looked around just as Gil came in with his thick terrycloth robe and wrapped it around her shoulders. It smelled of him and she buried her nose in the rolled collar. "You don't have to do that Sara" he pulled her against him. "I'm right here…and I'm not going anywhere" she kissed him then slipped from his arms to comb her hair as he leaned into the shower and turned on the water as she toweled her hair.

As he lathered himself Sara watched his reflection in the mirror and saw the smile he couldn't keep from his face. He scrubbed at his hair and Sara thought back to the times they would bathe or shower together and take turns washing each other. "I called Sheriff Brooks, I asked him if there was some place to rent a car so we could go get dinner, he said he'd pick us up for dinner if that's okay with you?"

"That's fine, I don't know if I thanked him for saving my ass…" she laughed.

"Oh yeah, I surely wouldn't want to forget to thank him for saving that…it's a mighty fine ass there missy!" he looked out of the shower and winked at her. "The diner has quite an array of food so I'm sure they can come up with something for you" he rinsed one last time then turned the water off. Sara tossed him a dry towel and he quickly ran it over his head then down the rest of his body before wrapping it around his waist and joining her by the mirror. His hand slid down and over her rump and she smiled.

"Okay, enough with my ass….I'm hungry" she picked up his toothbrush and quickly brushed her teeth because she didn't have anything else to use. "I also think we need to consider shopping to get me a few things, deodorant, a toothbrush of my own." She smiled at him with white foamy bubbles coming from her lips.

"You don't like mine?" he knew he had married a slight germaphobe but she'd used his toothbrush before when they'd started dating and she'd stayed over, it had been that or morning breath and Sara didn't want his memory to be clouded by thoughts of bad breath.

"I do, minty fresh…but you know me…" she blushed and continued scrubbing her teeth.

"I'm sure we can get some of the personal items in town, if not I'm sure Alan can tell us where we can go to get you some clothes, you're gonna need some jeans, shorts and a few tee shirts not to mention bras and panties, not that it matters to me if you wear anything, personally I'm okay if you want to walk around bare ass naked.." he winked again and she laughed.

"You Doctor Grissom have a serious fetish with asses" she leaned into him and kissed his ear then licked the shell with her tongue.

"And you my dear are wicked with that tongue of yours…" he kissed her then went about trimming his beard while she struggled to get her curls tamed. "Don't comb them too much Sar, I love your hair like this" his fingers ran through one of the still damp ringlets and he smiled.

"You'd probably love me if I was bald..." she finished with her hair and moved into the bedroom pulling on her jeans and one of Gil's shirts over one of his tee shirts. She knew he was right, they were going to have to pick up some clothes for her if they were going to be there for a few more days which brought up the next part of her conversation.

"How long are we staying here Gil?" she yelled from the bedroom.

"What do you mean?" he knew exactly what she meant but he was stalling for time and he figured it wouldn't take long before her face would appear around the door frame.

"Gil...are you ...you are coming back right?" she came into the bathroom just as he finished touching up his beard and putting the razor away. Gil was nothing if not meticulous about keeping his environment clean. "I mean, you have thought about it right?" she leaned a hip against the counter blocking his view of the mirror and trying to get his attention on her.

"No, not really, not since I left" he picked up the shaving bag and carried it out of the bathroom putting it back with his duffel bag. "I left Sara, and I ... I honestly don't know if I can go back now.." he moved around her with the grace of a tiger. "Or if I want to go back.." he saw the surprise etched on her face.

"Gil, it was your life!" the shock in her voice caused him to pause for a moment then he turned toward her putting his hands on her shoulders.

"That's just it Sara, it _was_ but I'm not sure I want it to _be_ any more..would you be totally disappointed if I didn't go back?" he watched her face and saw a myriad of emotions there.

"I'd miss working with you..." she suddenly realized that until now, she hadn't told him that she herself had gone back and the look on his face told her as much.

"You're back?" He had been about to walk around her again to reach for a shirt when her words had stopped him.

"Yeah, after I talked to Jim, I came back looking for you, Ecklie told me I was welcome to join Grave again...our solve rate" her hand wavered between herself and Gil, "was impeccable and had dropped considerably since I'd left and with you gone" she didn't need to add that Conrad didn't want to lose the number two standing they'd gained because of having Gil on staff as well. "He even offered to buy us wedding rings if I came here, married you and brought you back!" she laughed at the memory of his offerings. Gil joined in and then hugged her.

"And you're okay with going back?" he pulled away slightly and tipped her chin up to look into her eyes. "I mean honestly, are you okay...because if you're not..." Sara smiled and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I was ready to come home Gil, I just didn't know it, when I got back and everyone greeted me like I'd never left I realized that I had been dragging my feet because I was embarrassed by the way I'd left, now I'm glad I'm back, I'm among family and I'm with you" she hugged him. "You have to do what is right for you Honey and if that means you don't come back, then that's what you do and I'll accept it, Conrad won't like it anymore than he's going to like the fact...oh shit, I forgot to call him...I better do that now..." she moved out of the bedroom and went to the phone "Is it okay to make a long distance call..?" Gil nodded then simply handed her his own cellphone instead.


	15. Chapter 15

Conrad answered on the second ring, "Gil good to hear from you" he sounded genuinely happy and Sara held her breath for a moment before breaking in.

"Conrad it's actually Sara..." She heard him sigh.

"Well I take it from caller id that you found Grissom?"

"Yeah, I did..." she frowned and Gil suppressed the urge to laugh at her faces as he watched her try to get comfortable.

"And apparently you faired well in the storm which is good to hear.." he was glad to know they'd both made it through some of the worst weather to hit the area in years.

"Speaking of which Conrad...the ... um...the ... Denali...it...um..."she hemmed and hawed and Gil had to bury his face in the pillow because he was laughing so hard now. Sara would have gladly kicked him in the shins if he had been a foot closer but as it was she picked up another sofa pillow and proceeded to beat him with it. "It kinda didn't make it through the tornado.."

"Tornado...tor...did you say tornado Sidle...there was a tornado?" his voice raised every time the tornado word came out of his mouth. "Oh God are you both okay?" Sara breathed a momentary sigh of relief.

"Yeah, it hit the motel I pulled into but unfortunately it caught the Denali, it kinda parked it on its side and I don't know if it's totaled or not but.."

"That's besides the point Sidle..."

"Actually Conrad it's Grissom." She immediately corrected and Gil stopped laughing and stared at her with his mouth agape.

"Wait, I'm talking to you, how is it..? You...and Gil...you're married? You got married during a tornado?" He was floundering during the conversation and was almost glad it was taking place on the phone because if the two of them were standing in front of them, he didn't think his neck could have stood looking from one to the other.

"We were married before I left Conrad, I guess I should have said something to you when I came back"

"Considering I was kind enough to offer to buy you wedding rings AND pay for the wedding!" he teased and Sara laughed into the phone causing Gil's forehead to crease and eyebrow to cock in it's normal confused look. "So you got the man you were after for years and married him then still left, I'm really confused now. Just tell me Sid...Gris... Just tell me Sara, are you both coming back to work here?" he figured they would simply work everything else out when they got back to Vegas.

"I am, Gil hasn't decided yet." Conrad had leveled with her and Sara figured it was the least she could do with him.

"What's he holding out for? I told you that the both of you could work together, you can even have the same days off, I'll give you both a raise...what more does he want?" Conrad hadn't even considered the fact that Gil might not want to come back, as far as he knew, the lab, the job had always been his baby, it had been who and what Gil Grissom was and to even contemplate a future without him was not something Conrad was willing to do, he wasn't about to go to the Mayor and have to tell him that the second best lab in the country was losing its billing because it couldn't keep the Premier Entomologist in the world.

"You'll have to discuss that with him Conrad" she held out the phone to Gil who shook his head and backed away. Sara held firm and waved the device in his direction mouthing "Talk to him!" Gil gave her a stern look. "Just talk to him" she kept it up and Gil was not looking all to happy. "Gilbert Grissom, you are not now, nor have you ever been a coward, don't start now...talk to him!" she threw the phone on his lap, stood up and walked out of the house picking up her shoes on the way out to the porch. She put them on and then headed up the path away from the house wondering where it would take her.

"Gil sat and stared at the phone for a moment and on the other end, Conrad listened to the silence after having heard the things Sara had said to Gil. He understood that Gil was a proud man and he wasn't going to, for the first time make it difficult on the man if he honestly wanted to come back so he figured the safest and easiest thing was to wait it out., as long as it took.

"Hello?" Gil finally put the phone to his ear.

"Gil? Glad to hear you made it through the storm, how are you?" Conrad's concern certainly sounded genuine. Gil swallowed then leaned back on the sofa wondering where Sara had taken off to.

"I'm okay Conrad, it got a bit hairy up here for awhile, Sara was in the worst of it" he wouldn't admit that it nearly gave him a heart attack when he thought he'd lost her. "It's settled down now, the motel was destroyed as Sara said as was the Denali, I'm really sorry about that" he heard Conrad chuckle and couldn't remember the last time Ecklie ever laughed.

"It's a vehicle for God sake Gil, thank God it's wasn't a life!" he was dumbstruck by this new side of a man he thought he knew. "So, Sara tells me she doesn't know if you're coming back, I'd like to hear what you think...are you thinking of retiring?"

"I can't retire Conrad, I resigned from my job!" he apparently had forgotten that Sara told him Ecklie wasn't accepting his resignation.

"Really?" He sounded absolutely stunned, like this was some great news. "When? I didn't receive the paperwork on this? Did you forget to file it?" Gil shook his head wondering if he had been stuck in some parallel universe.

"Conrad, I left it in the middle of your desk!" He stood up pacing the room.

"Really? I'm sitting at my desk" he started to shuffle papers, I've been through every single thing on my desk numerous times now, I'm not seeing any letter of resignation...you're positive you filed it?" he knew it was going to drive Gil nuts this game he was playing.

"Listen Conrad, I see what you're trying to do...I walked away from my job, my team...I, well if I were you..."

"No Gil, this time you listen, I don't have any paperwork from you with the exception of a request for some time off to spend with your new bride, two weeks in Jackpot Nevada, I hear it's pretty quiet up there this time of year, nice place to fish, and I better get some nice fish on your return..and I better get an invite to the make up party when Catherine decides to have one cause you know she's going to ...Vacation starts today..for both of you, enjoy the time off and I'll see you both in two weeks and thanks for getting my top CSI back..oh, and by the way, is she planning on hyphenating her last name?" he knew the minute that Gil didn't answer he'd left the man speechless so he simply hung up and left him think about it.

Gil sat there staring at the phone until the dial tone made him disconnect. Apparently, the decision for now on whether or not he was going to return to the lab had been taken out of his hands. Ecklie had made it easier than he thought and now he only hoped his team would be as understanding.

The shift was gathered in the break room when Ecklie walked in with assignments. Catherine was just about to reach for them when he cleared his throat and asked them to take a seat. "I would like to speak to all of you for a few minutes before Catherine hands out assignments" he dropped the few papers he'd been holding on the desk and sat down. The group in the room pulled up their chairs and were surprised to see Al and Brass join them along with Wendy, Hodges, Mandy, Archie and Henry. "I called all of you here because you all work together with Grissom and Sara" he waited until they all were seated to begin.

Catherine had taken a seat beside him and Nick was on the other side. "As those closest to them know, Gil left the lab for parts unknown but as I just found out today and some of you might already know, or most of you..." he wasn't about to short change anyones intelligence. "Sara managed to find him after surviving a brush with a tornado" the gasps were audible and he quickly assured everyone that she was not only fine but she was also with Grissom "They're together, they're fine and apparently married."

"What? That son of a bitch!" Warrick couldn't help himself and Nick cracked up just by the glare from a very pissed off Catherine.

"They couldn't even wait for that, when the hell did that happen?" she tapped a pen on the table so violently that the tip broke off hitting Hodges in the forehead. "God Hodges I'm really sorry!" she apologized but not before she started laughing at the ink blot it left dead center of his head. No one in the room bothered to tell him about the mini Rorschach that was now there including his silent inamorata Wendy.

"Beside the point, I talked to Sara, she is definitely coming back..."

"Gil's not?" the consensus around the table began to question. Ecklie held up his hand.

"He was hesitant but I left him little option, I lied to him, told him I never received his resignation, as many of you know, this lab is what it is today because of him and because of you all, because of all of us" he knew the truth but he wasn't giving away all the credit. "I'm not about to commit professional suicide by losing our number two status because I couldn't keep Grissom here in Vegas, I agreed to let him and Sara work together, I'm taking it none of you will have a problem with that?" Everyone seemed fine with that.

"I also gave them the next two weeks off starting today as a honeymoon" Catherine smiled but Ecklie knew that she wasn't totally happy about having to pick up the load left by being short staffed "I'll send three of my day staff to help out and if something big comes up, I can always work extra." Catherine and everyone else looked at him like he'd developed two heads. "Catherine, when Gil returns, you will remain co-supervisor if that's acceptable to you, Sara and Gil will have the same days off when allowable and we'll try to limit the doubles and triples that we're working around here, it's getting totally out of hand lately." he smiled again liking that everyone seemed to be totally thrown by his new attitude.

"Are you sure he's still going to come back?" Catherine stood up about ready to distribute the cases on the desk.

"I told him in no uncertain terms he had no choice and I hope we can all deal with this like adults" he glanced at Hodges in particular knowing that at least 99 of the gossip that came through the lab was generated by him. "Gil had his reasons for leaving the way he did and I'm sure he's not particularly proud of the way he did it, let's leave it at that, Sara is quite obviously his life and I'm happy for them so let me just tell you, the first derogatory comment made to either of them, the first dirty look, the first hint of anything and you answer to me as you get your walking papers, no ifs, ands or buts...got it?" and with a nod of everyones heads, the meeting was adjourned and Conrad was once again happy.

"I'm glad, this place has been like a fucking morgue!" Al told Brass with a little coroner humor as they walked together through the corridor. "Did you catch the look on Catherine's face when he said they were married?" Al looked at Brass more closely "You son of a bitch, you already knew didn't you?" Brass smiled and then looked at Al.

"I knew and so did you ya conniving bastard!" They chuckled "When did you find out?" Al opened the door to the morgue and led the way to his secret frappachino machine "Gil was down here one day, on his cellphone, must have thought he was alone, he was drinking a cup of this" he started up the froth and put one of the small cups underneath "and I noticed a gold band on his finger" I coughed and he looked like a kid with his hand caught in a candy jar, next thing I know, he wouldn't take his hand out of his lab coat, I couldn't keep a straight face, so I did everything I could to make him take things from me, finally I said "When did you start wearing jewelry?" and boy oh boy, his face turned bright red and he finally leveled with me but told me that if I told anyone, Sara would kill him, how about you?"

"I walked into them coming out of the County Courthouse...Sara was wearing a beautiful off white two piece dress and Gil had on a nice suit, she had flowers and they couldn't take their eyes off each other and walked right into me, the minute I saw them I knew. Even with the cast on and the scratches, Sara made a beautiful bride...then...Hannah West showed up and she left..." Brass took the offered drink and sipped the hot liquid "This is delicious anyone else know about this?" Al shook his head and both of them laughed sharing their secrets.

The walk took Sara toward the lake, it was getting dark and the stars overhead along with the biggest brightest full moon she'd ever remembered seeing made it easy for her to stay on the path. It wasn't hard to find her way and she figured it would be easy enough to simply retrace her steps when she decided to go back. When she finally arrived at the water, the temperature was still warm enough for her to remove her shoes, take a seat on the small wooden dock and hang her feet into the water while she contemplated everything that had happened over the last day or so.

Making love to Gil had been better than she remembered he'd been so intent on making sure it had been about her and had far exceeded anything and everything she'd dreamed of. He loved her no matter what and had not held it against her that she'd walked away from him in fact, when she brought it up, he'd instantly forgiven her for it and moved forward. She wondered if it had been her, would she have been so forgiving? She didn't honestly know but she would hope so. Gil was more than any woman could have hoped for and she thanked God every day that he loved her as much as he did. Before they got together, when she'd made the mistake of hooking up with Hank, she almost managed to convince herself that he was incapable of feeling anything for another human being but seeing him as she did standing naked before her had stunned her more than ever and she was given insight into a man that few would ever know the way she did. She was grateful that he trusted her her enough to show her that kind of love.

Gil started to worry when after an hour, Sara had not returned. He was more familiar with the area and the wildlife that was around the wooded area and looking through the cabinet, he located a flashlight and went out to find her. Figuring that she would take a well marked path, it didn't take him long to pick up her trail and he knew she'd headed for the lake. 20 minutes later he saw her through the clearing sitting with her feet in the water, a very relaxed smile on her face he wondered what she was thinking. When she spotted the light through the trees she smiled even more when she realized it was him.

"Hey" she looked up as he climbed the two stairs to the dock then walked over and gently sat down beside her, then rolling up the legs of his jeans he was about to take off his shoes when she helped him and he put his feet in the water next to hers.

"I missed you at the house" he took her hand after shutting off the flashlight and putting it down on the wooden planks.

"How did your talk with Ecklie go?" She chuckled at the memory of his face as he refused to take the phone.

"We're on our Honeymoon" he saw her look of shock.

"You told him?" She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and looked up at him while gently splashing with her feet.

"Why yes Mrs. Grissom I certainly did!" he looked rather cocky at her and smiled. "What are you going to do about it?" he laid down the gauntlet and Sara had this sly little grin that made Gil shiver.

"Are you daring me Mr. Grissom?" she countered?

"And what if I were Mrs. Grissom?" he lobbed it back in her court?" He put a hand under his chin as he brought his knee up to rest his elbow on it. He didn't realize it brought his body out of balance and made it that much easier for Sara's next maneuver which was to push him off the dock. When he surfaced, sputtering and blinking, Sara laughed hysterically and nearly fell backwards until he grabbed an ankle.

"Don't you even think about it!" she quickly sat up and tried to pull away but he had been to quick and captured both ankles by then, she kicked but could not break free as he gently tugged her toward him. "Gilbert Louis Grissom do not even think about pulling me into that water!" she screeched as with one last tug he pulled her off the wooden deck and into the chilly water. She shrieked once again but he caught her in his well muscled arms before she went completely under and captured her in a searing kiss silencing any further words. She pulled back with a grin and thought she was safe as his hands worked their way up the back of her head, he pulled her toward him once more covering her mouth with his again and then before she knew what happened, he dunked them both under the water while keeping his lips glued to hers.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I realized that something was missing from my life and had to take care of it along with making sure that Dad was doing well. I've had some time away and I'm back, Thanks for sticking with me, this chapter is a little 'blah' I admit but it will lead into more interesting things as I go...enjoy!

The get together was quaint, held in the middle of town square with the white wooden gazebo as the central piece. There were ribbons and banners strung throughout the center of the ornately decorated square and if she hadn't lived through the hair raising tornado, Sara would never have thought a storm had even passed through.

"My God where did they get all the balloons and streamers?" she glanced around them as they drove into town and looked for a place to park off of Main street.

"The entire town is out" Gil quickly recognized several of the people he'd run into during his first visit. "They're a pretty resilient bunch" he pulled Alan's truck to the curb. "Like I said, once they get to know you, they treat you like family...just be prepared, some of the town folk like to ask a million questions."

"They must be special" She gathered her sweater having changed into one of the outfits before she left the store. "I never imagined you coming to a place like this to ..." she didn't want to say '_run away_' though that certainly might have been the correct expression to him leaving like he did.

"Regroup? Think things over?" his raised eyebrow told her clearly she was being teased. It felt good to feel this relaxed with Sara. "Or were you thinking more along the lines of running away..?" he winked at her and saw the shocked expression on her face telling him all to clearly he still knew her way of thinking very well.

"Well...now that you mentioned it.." she snickered as she left the vehicle and met him as he came around the front. He reached out, pulled her by her waist and turned her toward himself.

"I had no choice Sara, my home had left me, I was a man adrift, alone on a single solitary planet with nowhere to go, nowhere to be, You are my home, You are my life..." he nudged his forehead against hers.

"You're a planet?" she kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose and caused him to chuckle.

"I felt like Pluto, one minute I'm a planet and the next I'm a planet outcast" he kissed her back and pulled her tightly against his chest "Don't ever think of leaving me again woman!" Sara sighed against his warm wet lips and couldn't stop the smile that crept across her features.

"I love when you act all caveman!" she winked just as Sheriff Brooks made an appearance.

"Welcome Gil...Sara" he turned to the crowd of people gathered in the square. "Everyone is going to be so happy to see you again." he acted like the group was gathered solely fore their benefit. "I hope you found everything you needed on your shopping trip?" his smile was genuine and Sara could easily see how Gil would feel comfortable around the man.

"Thank you Sheriff" Sara grinned keeping her arm snuggly wrapped around Gil's waist.

"Alan...you can call me Alan.." He tipped his white stetson and smiled at both of them. "There's plenty to eat and drink so help yourself...Gil, I'll let you do the introductions since you know most everyone anyhow" again he tipped his had and quickly dismissed himself but then turned slowly "I'd be mighty happy if you let me take the wife for a spin later on" he saw the confused look on Gil's face "On the dance floor I mean, when the band finishes setting up" he seemed to realize how it sounded.

"I might let ya Alan, I just might consider it" Gil knew that Sara would be in safe hands but the thought of anyone but himself dancing with her held a certain something akin to jealousy. He couldn't help it, he'd just gotten her back and he wasn't at all keen to let her too far out of his sight. "Of course" he hugged her and placed a gentle but possessive kiss to her temple "you'll have to see if it's okay with the little lady." he felt her pinch him at that statement and couldn't suppress the laugh that gathered in his throat.

"Little lady huh?" she looked from Alan to Gil and back again "So I'm the 'little lady' now?" Alan hurried away leaving Gil to sort it out himself.

"Well you are to me" he shrugged innocently. "I am a few inches taller than you" he pulled away but not before Sara's

hand connected with the back of his head. He took her in his arms and together they mingled with the crowd. The entire time, he never let go of her hand.

"So Mr. Grissom, I see you got yourself one hell of a pretty young girlfriend!" it was surprisingly none other than Marty Cooperman who usually had little if anything to say to most people. Gil grinned and pulled Sara closer to his side.

"Actually Marty, this is my wife" he saw the other man cock an eyebrow. "We used to work together in Las Vegas" he watched the wheels rolling in Marty's head. "Sara Grissom meet Marty Cooperman, he owns the service station in town." Sara smiled and pro-offered her hand to the older man before her.

"Nice to meet you, Gil mentioned you from his previous trip here" the smile she offered was warm and inviting.

"May have to borrow you for a dance or two later on, we don't get too many pretty girls here" he looked around at the crowds gathered in the square "Just the usual town folk but, I'd sure like to take you for a swing later on if it's okay with your husband here" his statement was more of a question and Gil snickered.

"Totally up to Sara but I think you're going to have to stand in line, Alan already called dibs on this one" he laughed and they continued on their way over the section of tables. Sara blushed at the compliment the older man had offered.

"He usually doesn't talk to anyone, you get a word or two and he walks away" Gil looked back and scratched his head. "Apparently you're just too easy on the eyes Mrs. Grissom" he kissed her then walked up to one of the booths serving drinks. He ordered a beer for both of them and when he offered to pay, his money was turned down.

"Nope, Mr. Grissom, your money is no good in town tonight, in fact, no one's is, drinks and food are on the house" the elderly woman smiled and passed him the two frosty bottles. "Enjoy yourself, both of you, it's not often times this town gets to celebrate!" she blushed when Grissom thanked her again and he and Sara went to find seats at the tables that were set up throughout the square.

"They remind me of the Wizard of OZ" Sara absentmindedly whispered. "The wicked witch is gone ….the tornado and its cause for a great celebration" she sipped her beer and watched her husband taking in all the people. She found it a little overwhelming that Gil somehow seemed more relaxed with these people then he did with his entire team but didn't want to spoil the overall good mood of the day by mentioning this. She should have known her quiet would cause him to look her over.

"Penny for your thought?" he sat back in one of the folding chairs across from her. Sara looked around and then back at him and slowly shook her head.

"It's nothing…" she sipped at the beer and started peeling the label forgetting that the man across from her made his living by taking in every nuance of a person.

"It's something." His gaze settled on her hands. "What's on your mind Honey?" his voice sent shivers down her spine each time it took on the husky tone.

"You seem so different." She watched his face as he absorbed her observations. "I mean, you seem so calm, so relaxed here. I don't think I ever remember seeing you so comfortable with people like you seem to be here in Jackpot." She didn't know how to finish the statement but plunge right in. "With the team" she saw him swallow "you've never been .. I don't know know….laid back?" she stammered afraid at any moment the mood could darken.

"They don't expect anything from me" he finished his bottle and put it carefully back on the checkered tablecloth. "To them, I came here originally to do a job which made many of them suspicious but now, I came back to be among them, I fish…I eat breakfast in town…it's funny but back in Vegas, I never felt like I belonged there….I mean I love my … loved my job" he watched her closely "but after everything is said and done, what have I got beside my reputation?" he laid the empty bottle on its side and spun it with his forefinger. "I mean don't get me wrong, I have my life, I have you…..I hope, Hank, my bugs but where are the family and friends?" he didn't know if he was explaining this in a way she'd understand but he knew of no other way to say it. "I mean, sure, Cath is my friend, and Jim…"

"Don't forget Al." she interjected.

"That's a given but the more I think about it, the less I want to go back" he watched her features and wasn't surprised when she smiled. "I know" he paused "hard to believe that I would be considering it but I honestly am...I don't think I like my job anymore Sara" he knew they shared that feeling, at least he hoped they did. "Do you remember when you and I had that discussion outside, you wanted to know why were doing our job if the criminals went free and the victims didn't get justice?"

Sara nodded thinking back how Gil had told them that the courts were like dice, they had no memory. She had told him then how it angered her and he told her in no uncertain terms that anger wouldn't do anything for the case or, in the long run, herself. She'd stood there appalled when he'd told her there was no statue of limitation on murder then simply walked away leaving her standing there stewing. He'd been right of course but now he was starting to see things from where she'd stood that day.

"The criminals are getting smarter, the crimes seem to be worse each and every time...I'm tired Sara...I don't get what I used to out of the job..." he watched her face. "All I want to do is come home and relax with you, take Hank for a walk, I've worked since I was a young kid, I have all the money I, we need to do whatever we want." he looked around "I want to take you to see the rain forests, I want to walk among the Egyptian ruins and hold your hand" he reached out for her hand

Sara took his hand and moved over closer to him. "I want to see all the things you've talked about but are you sure you want to give up the lab?" she wanted the decision to be something he could live with. Gil nodded and then kissed each of her fingers.

"I have nothing left to teach them Sara, they're experienced enough to go anywhere and impress any labs. I'm tired of signing paper after paper and we both know that the damned paperwork kept me out of the field more than anything and Ecklie gets the credit for keeping the lab number 2 only we both know it's not Ecklie, he's been riding my coat tails for far too long and I've had enough. I don't want to wake up one day and say "This is what I could have had or could have done..I want to do it, now, with you!" he sounded like a petulant child but Sara understood him more in that moment than previously.

"Will you take me fishing tomorrow?" she leaned in an captured his lips in a searing kiss

"I'll take you anywhere you want to go!" he nibbled her lower lip and mumbled against her skin. "As long as you and me are together sweetheart!" he kissed her once again and heard someone over his shoulder cough.

"Don't mean to interrupt you guys but I see you're fresh out of beer" Alan stood with two sweating bottles of beer "And the people of the town won't start eating lunch until you say a few words..." he motioned to the empty makeshift stage where a microphone had been set up. Gil groaned and rolled his eyes before disentangling himself fro Sara and standing up.


End file.
